The Truth Is by Linda Hogan
In the poem the Truth Is by Linda Hogan is struggling with her mixed ethnic heritage, with her dad being Chickasaw and her mother being European.
In the first stanza the speaker states her dual heritage by her right hand representing her white heritage and her left representing her Chickasaw heritage. There is such a divide between the two that she even has to reassure herself and the reader that these are in fact her hands:
“ In my left pocket a Chickasaw hand
rests on the bone of the pelvis.
In the right pocket
A white hand. Don’t worry. It’s mine
And not some thief’s” (492)
Then she goes on to talk about her marital status in lines six and seven “ It belongs to a woman who sleeps in a twin bed even though
she falls in love too easily” (492). Meaning that even though she falls in love rather very easily, she is still single. Through lines nine and ten “and walks along with hands in her own empty pockets” (492), the speaker is showing her lack of money of material possessions. In the second stanza we see that her hands, that represent her heritage, normally work together to do things but in her case her hands will not cooperate. She describes this by saying that she is a tree that has grown by two plants coming together but still bearing two different frits. But its too crowded which causes them to hit against each other but they long for peace. (492-493) In stanza three she addresses herself: “Linda, girl, I keep telling you this is nonsense about who loved who and who killed who” (493) Meaning to stop worrying about the past between the Chickasaw and the whites because there is nothing she can do to change the past. Therefore will gain no help with her inner turmoil with her emotions. Through the fourth stanza we see that she views herself as barely holding together by saying “Here I am, taped together like some old civilian conservation corps” (493). Then she says “and my pockets are empty. It’s just as well since they are masks for the soul, and since coins and keys both have sharp teeth of property”(493) showing us again that she has no money or material possessions. Which she is somewhat comfortable with this because her soul is untouched by material things but others with wealth their souls become blinded. In the fifth stanza she is trying to stay oblivious to either culture and what the represent by continuing to keep both hands in her pockets. She wants to forget the history between the Chickasaw and the whites but she can not escape the truth that she knows. Even though she longs to forget she has a constant reminder in todays society because of conflicts that are still occurring. In the sixth and final stanza she goes from focusing on her hands to her but it is still the same the left foot represents her Chickasaw heritage and her right represents her white heritage. Therefore she realizes that she is just going to have to learn how to live with her mixed feelings about her heritage.
...n’t call anyone as she has no contacts near her so she is lonely. Finally the husband speaks in the last two lines clearly showing his inconsiderate behavior towards the plight of his wife even daring to say that it is quiet while his wife is prepared to scream.
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