Poetry Response:
In the quickly evolving and developing world today, some things never change. Generations may come and go, times may change, fashions, ideas, technology, but one thing stays constant: the way humans communicate and interact with other people and the outside world. Some may be excited to go out and learn new things, while others may be shy or even frightened of the outside world. The poem Life Doesn't Frighten Me by Maya Angelou is exactly about that. One prominent theme in the poem is that one shouldn't be afraid of the world or any mental fears that they may have. The poem teaches us to be brave by looking at the world from a more innocent perspective of a child.
An example of a fear of physical things can be found in stanzas six and seven. The speaker says "Tough guys fight/alone at night/ life doesn't frighten me at all/ Panthers in the park/ strangers in the dark/ No, they don't frighten me at all." (Angelou 22-27) The things described in these stanzas do not seem childlike or lighthearted. In fact, they are examples of more adult issues. However, the speaker says that they aren't afraid of those things, letting the reader know that they aren't important or frightening enough as other things hinted at further along in the poem.
An example of a fear that is more psychological is in the lines "That new classroom where/boys all pull my hair/ (kissy little girls/with their hair in curls)/ they don't frighten me at all." (Angelou 28-32) This represents the teasing, and perhaps even bullying, that exists in schools. The speaker states that they are not afraid of that and they are not afraid of being judged by other people.
The final example of a fear that is mostly in the speaker's mind is "If I am afraid at all/ it's only in my dreams." (Angelou 35-36) This signifies that the speaker is only afraid of the things that he or she can not control. If they are in control of their life, then they have nothing to be frightened of.
Maya Angelou shows the reader of the poem Life Doesn't Frighten Me that as long as you are in charge of your life there is nothing out there in the world that can really scare you. The greatest fear is loosing control of what is going on around you. This poem teaches its readers to be brave and not be frightened of insignificant things.
This is a great outlook on the poem. I agree with your take on how the author chose to relay her themes through a "child's innocent perspective." You really wrote a great response, and analyzed and wrote about the poem very honest fully and interestingly.
ReplyDeleteHooray for a super late comment!
ReplyDeleteGood post. This poem is really interesting, and I like how you analyzed it.
Nice response! I enjoyed how you introduced the poem's topic (fears and bravery) by stating that over time, this is something that will never change as long as we are human. From also reading the poem, I agree with you; I think Angelou wants the audience to remember so long as you are responsible of your life, there isn't anything out there that can frighten you. From personal experience, I've noticed you can get rid of your fears once you simply stay confident of what you are doing to eliminate the possibility for that fear to become reality. Overall, I think you picked out a powerful, thought-provoking, and relatable lesson from this poem.
ReplyDelete