Rose That Grew From Concrete Meaning

“The Rose To My Success”
Tupac Shakur overcomes the tough obstacles that tend to get in his way in his poem, “The Rose That Grew From Concrete,” an extended metaphor that shows how the rose in the poem represents Tupac and how the concrete represents the ghetto also known as where he’s from. With Tupac being the speaker of his own poem, he begins by showing the audience who he was, what he went through, where he grew up, and how he became successful throughout each stanza. The stanzas focus on who he was, by growing up in the wrong neighborhood, to learning how to walk without having feet, and overcoming the tough obstacles getting in his way to becoming successful. Tupac reveals that no matter where your from and or who you are, you can overcome

anything that gets in your way and become successful. He shows people no matter how hard things get you can always fulfill your dreams.

Tupac’s choice of using an extended metaphor, a short but structured poem, along with comparing himself to a rose and concrete, represents how anyone can overcome tough obstacles and follow their dreams to become successful. The short structure of the poem shows how Tupac lived a short life but also showed how he overcame the conflicts he faced. One aspect of the extended metaphors alliteration by the use of a couple sentences; Tupac’s choices of words are intense with strong meanings throughout the poem. His use of the sentence “crack in the concrete” representing the struggles people face. His use of the sentence “Long live the rose that grew from concrete” shows how people overcome all the tough obstacles that get in their way no matter where they came from nor how hard it was.

Tupac reveals that in order to be successful, one must prove nature’s law wrong and overcome the tough obstacles that may get in the way of the road to success. His use of the extended metaphor and short structured poem reveals that life is short so do what you can to prove your success to others.