Hanging Fire Essay

Self-centered Teen or Thought-invoking Speaker suspension suggest by Audre Lorde The loudtalker in Audre Lords poem Hanging turn on is highly self-centered. Does this limit the poems ability to adduce anything of widely distributed value? A simple read of Hanging Fire by Audre Lorde might lead one to conclude that there is no real value in this self-centered poem. However, upon critical analysis, one substructure obtain valuable insights from the poem. The 14-year-old speaker deals with major publishs that plague the adolescent generation such as peer acceptance, race and gender inequality, sex, wipeout and communion with lifts. In the following paragraphs, I impart demonstrate the speakers printings on individually of these matters.One issuance that the speaker addresses is the pressure to get going in with her peers. The poem deals with such topics as dancing and upcoming parties (I have to learn to dance/ In time for the next fellowship), the immenseness of fa shion (I have nothing to wear tomorrow) and physical appearance (Why do I have to be/ The one/ Wearing braces). These are typical topics that cause teenagers to attention failure in terms of social acceptance. The pressure of not allowance into societal norms can oppress these young individuals, both emotionally and socially and the speaker is quite clear in the poem that she is maintenanceed with these issues.Secondly, the issue of racial and gender inequality is evident in the poem. The speaker appears to be an African American girl. The poem begins with I am fourteen/ And my trim has betrayed me. This kris could be interpreted in devil ways. First, it could indicate that the speaker is dealing with pimples and blemishes, another example of a teenagers concern to the highest degree physical appearance. On the other hand, a more raise interpretation is that the speaker is indicating that she is black. This reference to race indicates the speakers consciousness that racism has caused and will cause her many a(prenominal) frustrations in life. some other line in the poem states that I should have been on the math police squad/ My marks were better than his. The use of this incident is very creative because it deals with two issues racial inequality and gender inequality.The speaker feels the unfairness of discrimination because she believes the choose on the math team should have been for her but, instead, was rewarded to the boy due to her gender and thecolor of her skin. This line provides the indorser with an example of the oppression and hardships the speaker is woefulness as a black girl in school. The speaker afterwards states in the poem, There is nothing I want to do/ And in any case much/ That has to be done. She recognizes that it will be hard to misuse forward and join the fight to have society accept equality. In fact, at times the speaker feels the task is too hard and that she does not want to try at all. Her adolescent desire t o be received in society without ridicule further impedes her efforts to overcome the oppression.The third issue in the poem is sexuality. In the third line, the speaker states The boy I cannot run low without /Still sucks his thumb / In secret. It is here that she tells the lecturer that she is not comfortable expressing her different views about her sexuality. The boy I cannot live without refers to the boy inside her and the reader sees that the speaker is aware that her feelings, emotions, and preference to the womanly sex must remain a secret for fear of scrutiny and non-acceptance. The secret thumb-sucking may refer to her insecurities of being gay. The speaker feels compelled to live a lie to avoid further shunning by her peers and society. The statement in the poem Suppose I die before graduation/ They will sing sad melodies/ But finally/ Tell the truth about me describes the unveiling of the truth of the speakers secret life upon her last and so reinforces the fact tha t she is not ready to publicly acknowledge her sexuality.Another topic in the poem is the communication problem amongst the speaker and her mother. Each of three stanzas ends with the same two lines And mommas in the bedroom/ With the door closed. It is obvious that the speaker feels that her mother is unapproachable. The door between the mother and speaker represents the lack of communication flowing between parent and child. The speaker, as a teenager, wishes to exercise her license but still requires instruction in order to deal with adolescent issues such as social acceptance, racism, gender, sexuality and death. However, the conflict between the teenagers maturation tune and the mothers reluctance to acknowledge her childs independence has caused their communication to become obstructed. The speaker feels alone in the world and believes that she has nowhere to turn.Lastly, the speaker describes her adolescent fascination with death. The speaker refers to death in each of th e three stanzas. As a teenager, the speaker is not only feeling overwhelmed by adolescent problems, but is also becoming aware of the emerging obstacles in life. The speaker sees death as a way of escaping these troubles. remnant would allow her communication problems with her mother to disappear, cause her secret about her sexuality to be uncovered and save her from having to fight a dost societal oppression to hand the acceptance of equality. The speaker is seen to contemplate the common, yet unfortunate, adolescent idea of whether death and suicide is a real way to avoid the pressures of life and growing up.Therefore, if the reader of Audre Lordes poem Hanging Fire is able to drive past the adolescents self-pity and into the substance of the poem, the reader is likely to gain an understanding of the serious topics being contemplated by a 14-year-old black girl. In this poem the speaker considers issues such as peer acceptance, racism, gender, sexuality, death and the importan ce of parental communication. Even the title, in association with the poem, provides value as it communicates to the reader that the speaker wishes to hang fire or delay dealing with the many pressures and obstacles in her life. Thus, even though the speaker in this poem is extremely self-centered, it does not limit the poems ability to say something of general value.