My Parents Flashcards
Themes
Parent-Child Relationship
Childhood Experiences
Forgiveness
Bullying
“Who threw words like stones” line 2
Stone throwing is something done in the old ages to purposely hurt someone with the intent to kill. So when these bullies were shouting slurs at the boy, the writer compares it to stone throwing because it is something so belligerent and so unnecessary that in the boy’s/writer’s mind it equates to it.
“Their muscles like iron” line 5
The boys were strong or just stronger than him, and when the boys pinned him down not only did it hurt but he felt like he couldn’t move.
“Like dogs to bark at my world” line 10
“Like dogs to bark at my world” not literal dogs but they were loud and unrelenting like dog’s barks frightening and offensive getting ready to attack.
“the salt coarse pointing of those boys”
“the salt coarse pointing of those boys” salt is rough and salt in wounds sting. The pointing by the boys would point and it would hurt emotionally for Spencer.
Allusion
“While I looked the other way” an allusion to Jesus turning the other cheek as a form of forgiveness, like Spencer wanting to forgive the boys.
Summary
This poem is a reflection on an experience in the childhood of Spencer. The recalls his parents keeping him sheltered from the children of the community he seems to be a weak child while the children in this community were wilder, he never got the chance to go out and play with them and even if he did he seems not to be accepted by them. The bullying he endured as a young child by these neighborhood kids was one of the reasons why they kept him away, they would constantly make fun of his lisp, threw dirt at him, etc. Spencer expresses his desire to make amends with these children but they never gave him an opportunity to do so.
Wanting Acceptance
“They threw mud// While I looked the other way, pretending to smile.” We can see that even though Spencer was bullied by these boys he also longed for acceptance, he may have also been putting up a brave face.
I longed to forgive them but they never smiled” as we said before he wanted to forgive them, but they never showed him any kindness or even a smile. He longed to forgive them but he never did as he had no reason to, he longed to make friends but he was never able to.
Mood and Tone
The mood of this poem is reflective. The themes include childhood experience, parental influence and social segregation.
melancholic, regretful tone
