I thought this poem to be deep understanding of the human physique and how it plays into the male ego.
I think that this poem focused in on the main theme of regret and pride. I interpreted the poets use of the color black with night as the dark or as and death, in the poem he says “My black face fades, hiding inside the black granite…” to me this is a form of shame, I believe that the poet is referring to his own feelings of humility for either serving in the Vietnam War this also can be interpreted from “I said I wouldn’t, dammit: no tears. I’m stone. I’m flesh.” yet this line evokes another meaning I believe the author wants to forget about what happened; suppress it because he is “Stone” but he is also ”flesh” “My clouded reflection eyes” represent to me his comprised view/memory of the war. “Me like a bird of prey” represents his vulnerability, or expressing his emotions which in turn could also mean becoming “flesh” and death is the “profile of the night” which we see brings the conflict of good and evil into the poem with “slanted against morning” morning being the light at the end of the tunnel. All of these aspects to me can be interpreted as a battle between social acceptance which can be determined by the human physique and the male ego in the sense of it not being "Socially acceptable" for a man to cry because he is suppose to be a rock; "Stone".
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I don't think that war veterans really regret serving their country, but i agree with you that was the author went through was horrific. All in all he chose to go to war most likely and the poem is just a reflection of the effects of such a traumatic experience.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with your views on this poem, as far as it can be interpreted as a battle between social acceptance which can be determined more so for me by the male ego, in this case .. because it's true that it isn't "socially acceptable," for men to cry because we as a society have collectively socialized boys to grow up thinking that to be a man is to not ever show emotion, fear, to be courageous, strong,tough, domineering, assertive and that the only exception to showing an emotion would be anger. So I agree that he went there with the pre-existed notion that he would not allow himself to cry.
ReplyDeleteI also do not agree with the idea of the poet's regret for his time served but I do think it was traumatizing to him. I think the shame may be for the tears he said he wouldn't cry. I didn't really think of that until I read your post.
ReplyDeleteGreat observations and discussion. You're all zeroing in on the tensions and conflicts in the imagery, which, of course, image the speaker's inner conflicts about the war, his role in it, its effects--socially, psychologically, morally... yes, keep an eye on those image patterns...
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