Memory Lucille Clifton

One’s perspective can make the difference between being happy or miserable. How an individual handles certain stress, whether through anger or by disregarding the problem, reflects not only on their personality but also their morality. When dealing with discrimination, although there are several ways an individual can handle it, it all comes down to two initial reactions. One way of dealing with discrimination is to feed into it with anger; loathing. The second way to handle prejudices is to ignore them. These two different viewpoints are demonstrated in Lucille Clifton’s poem “Memory” in her book of poems, Blessing the Boats. In this poem, Lucille Clifton uses both the speaker’s and the mother’s perspective to express two completely views

regarding the mistreatment of discrimination.
While there are two themes presented in the poem, the mood that is expressed more throughout the poem is anger with a strong sense of shame, and sadness. Throughout the poem the speaker maintains an intense feeling of shameful anger regarding the topic of her mother’s mistreatment. These negative feelings are shown in the first three lines:
ask me to tell you how it feels
remembering your mother’s face
turned to water under the white words
of the man at the shoe store. (124)
In these lines I sense a feeling of hate and shame because of the poets word use.

I believe the poet is expressing this sense of shame in the third line in how her mother’s “face was turned to water” (124). I think this line means that her mother’s identity and/or respect were washed away by the man’s ignorance; her mother’s pride was “turned to water”. Also, I think this line can express a similar idea where her mother’s integrity and reputation was tainted by people’s ignorance; her soul was transparent, nothing, or as the poet says, “Water”. When the speaker was young, she remembers a lot of hate being reflected upon her family. Regarding these bad memories, the speaker is using her poems in order to express her feelings of shame and hatred towards racist ignorant people. The poem demonstrates how ashamed the speaker is to talk about the way they were mistreated; how much she loathes these memories. Together, the poet mixes the sad tone and the words “ask me how it feels” (124), to express this sense of shame that she had for this time in her life. Clearly, the speaker is demonstrating her anger with the way her mother was

treated.
Another, more subliminal, theme I noticed within the poem is expressed through her mother’s character.

She shares the nature of her mother’s reactions to express the importance of ignoring rude and ignorant people; focusing on the positive events in life. This theme of ignoring negativity is expressed about halfway into Lucille’s short poem “memory”, where the speaker mentions that her mother shares a positive view on these memories. The speaker says, “though she tells it better than I do” (124), regarding the memories that the speaker is really bothered by. The speaker then goes on to share that it wasn’t “because of her charm” (124), but because her mother says “it never happened” (124). Instead the mother says she only remembers “buying you / your first grown up shoes / she smiles” (124), when talking with her daughter. Here, the mother is demonstrating a sense of maturity and sincere love for her daughter where she doesn’t want her to know about the injustices people cause. These lines are beautiful because she is protecting her child from the rudeness and callousness of ignorant others. Her mother is expressing that she is much better than those people who talk with rude generalities; she and her daughter can, and will, overcome any injustice brought upon them. The speaker uses her mother to demonstrate the theme that happiness can only be achieved when you ignore negative events that try to hold you

down.
Even though the speaker is still disgusted and bothered by the way her mother was treated she is also expressing that her mother handled it in a very delicate, model way; a coping method she can use herself. The speaker does not think about these memories the same as her mother because she lets the anger bother her while her mother tried to show the importance of ignoring it. Even though she may never see those times the way her mother does she is using this poem to express how serious these times affected her. Lucille Clifton uses her poem, “memory” to demonstrate two important perspectives; one of her own and of her mother’s. This poem represents both how the speaker feels about it and how her mother dealt with it.