He starts the poem off by simply asking if Mexicans really do come up to you and ask or demand that they are taking your job. I feel like he is going at this poem at the beginning in a sarcastic or a laughing out loud mocking tone, because he asks the readers, would you just hand the Mexicans your wallet or hand them over the keys to your life. He says in lines eight through eleven, "Do they sneak into town at night, and as you're walking home with a whore, do they mug you, a knife at your throat, saying, I want your job?", it makes it seem like he is making the Mexicans like criminals on the street willing to take your job at anytime that you happen to mess up or make a wrong move. While reading the poem Baca makes it seem that he is trying to say that Americans are lazy and that the Mexicans could take their jobs at any time that they wanted.
Baca makes a dramatic change in the poem talking about white farmers and how some children that do not have any food that their rib cages are popping out of their sides. At this point in the poem I feel that Baca is trying to compare rich people to poor people because he jumps away from the Mexicans trying to take jobs from the Americans and talks about the farmers. Jimmy Santiago Baca is stating the the rich does not have to work nearly as hard as the poor people do. The rich take many things for granted and and would not know what to do if something would happen and they had no more money. The poor have to work very hard to try to get anything in life, they have to scrape up anything they can find to purchase bread and butter.
He later discusses that we should not be worried about whether or not Mexicans are taking Americans jobs, but the issue that we should be worried about our children. What i think he is meaning by this is that our children will have many things handed to them, especially growing up with money, so they will not know how to deal with working when older.
All around, i like this poem a lot. I love how he changes the tone with every issue that he brings up throughout the poem and the strong language that he uses to keep you entertained.
The thought of leaving a legacy or just what kind of legacy you might be leaving is a powerful thought that needs more thought. I like that you mentioned this aspect of the poem and will now spend more time looking around me trying to see what kind of legacy I might be leaving and how that affects others. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteSara,
ReplyDeleteYou've done a fine job of analyzing tone in this poem. I agree with you that the tone certainly starts out sarcastic--the author takes the words that Americans often say and interprets them to a ridiculous extent--showing exactly how foolish such statements are! Good interpretation. Thanks!
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ReplyDeleteI also feel like the author is speaking in somewhat of a mocking and sarcastic tone. I also feel he is writing this poem from an agressive and angry point of view. He seems annoyed by how Americans treat Mexican workers and how they feel as though they are stealing jobs in America. I like how you used the comparison of rich and poor people so the author could take away his point about Mexicans trying to take control over America. America has become a country controlled by money. I like your interpretation on the poem. Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
ReplyDeleteYou have grasped the real Essene of the poem
ReplyDelete