Adeliya Mammadova 9F
Poetry Essay
11/16/17
People often regard outsiders with suspicion, judgment, and sometimes even aversion.
Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni’s poem “Yuba City School” shows this complex idea through the experiences of an immigrant family. In the poem, she explains how differences that set people apart can affect their ability to fit into a community. The inability to adhere to or grow comfortable into a community can cause one to feel lonely and out of place as a result. By utilizing metaphors, similes, and symbolism the poet signifies the many difficulties immigrants must face while trying to conform to a new environment such as the feeling of being excluded, discrimination, and the language barrier.
Through the use of metaphors, the poet shows the power of language and how it connects to the social hierarchy in today’s society. The boy, Neeraj, explains to his mother that he cannot read the words in their textbooks or comprehend what the teacher says. The poem continues by indirectly comparing the words to the understanding of the student. The teacher places Neeraj in the far end of the class, he explains to his mother that it makes him feel powerless. Then, the speaker decides it’s time to look past her language barrier and stand up for her son,
Tomorrow in my blue skirt I will go
to see the teacher, my tongue
stiff and swollen
in my unwilling mouth, my few
English phrases. She will pluck them
from me, nail shut my lips. My son
will keep sitting in the last row
among the red words that drink his voice. (61-68)
The speaker already predicts that the teacher will shut her down. Choose specific words and explain why the poet used them and what they convey. Also try to relate some ideas into a theme or motif. A common obstacle immigrants face is the difficulty of communicating with others. This makes them feel secluded from their new communities because they can not interact with their neighbors. Divakaruni’s choice of expressing the speaker’s inability to interact with the American teacher as a metaphor emphasizes the meaning because it cannot be described in one word. For example, when the speaker says, “She will pluck them from me, nail shut my lips” the poet tries to convey that language harnesses very strong power. In America, people often view immigrants as uneducated people because of their poor English, meaning that it shows a sign of inferiority. Additionally, the mother is already aware that the teacher will use her limited English as a tool to dismiss her ideas about her son’s seating. Furthermore, the teacher makes the mother and son feel resented and excluded from the classroom because of the hurtful words that silence Neeraj. The speaker also knows that she needs to overcome her limited English for her to become successful.
Later in the poem, the speaker uses metaphors to reveal that her son, Neeraj, is being neglected and picked on at school which shows the mistreatment and negative experiences he has to face on a daily basis. Neeraj tells his mother how the other children treat him because of the differences that set him apart. He explains that,
invisible hands snatch at his uncut hair,
unseen feet trip him from behind,
and when he turns, ghost laughter
all around his bleeding knees.
He bites down on his lip
to keep in the crying. (49-54)
This clearly displays the cruelty and pain Neeraj has to face every day at school. His peers make him feel alienated caused by the immense amount of judgment he gets because of his differences. The boy is on the verge of tears because he feels as though he is powerless in the given situations and cannot fight back or stand up for himself. Moreover, he knows that he cannot cry because that will just reveal more weakness. On the other hand, the use of the words, “invisible”, “unseen”, and “ghost” are implicit. The word choices convey that these things do not actually happen, but instead the boy feels the discrimination and judgment from the other kids. The fact that he feels this way shows that he knows he stands out because of his culture. In fact, this means that he is being discriminated against because of his differences and the people at school see him as inferior and weak which is why they put him down and mistreat him physically or implicitly. Overall, he feels like he is ridiculed and does not fit in or belong to the community.
First, the poet’s use of imagery exemplifies how the immigrants feel the need to conform to their new community so they can be accepted and viewed more positively. Throughout the poem, the Sikh immigrants located in California are viewed as inadequate and inferior by their community. The poet reveals that the speaker’s son, Neeraj, frequently comes home crying because of the way he is treated at school. He tells his mother that he is forced to sit in the back of the classroom, he cannot read the words in their textbooks or comprehend what the teacher says,
The books are full of black curves,
dots like the eggs the boll weevil lays
each monsoon in furniture-cracks
in Ludhiana. Far up front
the teacher makes word-sounds
Neeraj does not know. They float
from her mouth-cave, he says,
in discs, each a different color…
For him the words are a muddy red,
flying low and heavy,
and always the one he has learned to understand:
idiot idiot idiot.
The poem continues by indirectly comparing the words to the understanding of the student. The teacher places Neeraj in the far end of the class, he explains to his mother that it makes him feel powerless. is not happy w
Lastly, the poet’s use of symbolism and similes exemplifies exactly how the immigrants feel the need to conform to their new environment so they can be accepted into society as well as be seen in a more positive light. Throughout the poem, the Sikh immigrants located in California are viewed as inadequate and inferior by their community. The mother and son feel the need to attune with their community “I test the iron with little drops of water/ that sizzle and die. Press down on the wrinkled cloth. This room fills/ with a smell like singed flesh.” (57-60). The quote includes a simile that compares the smell of the cloth and to burning skin. In addition, the iron represents the weight of America and the cloth is the speaker and her son. The iron straightens out the “wrinkled cloth” which means that the new environment is forcing this family to conform or adjust to it. It is human nature to adjust to our surroundings which will eventually happen for the mother and son in the poem.
Divakurini shows the hardships immigrants have to face as they attempt to conform into a new environment. They must face the discrimination and an obvious feeling of being left out, while adjusting to the new country. This can lead to making one feel isolated and lonely because they no longer have a bond with their community. The discrimination the people in “Yuba City School” is very similar to the border controls and laws in today’s America which are very discriminatory and xenophobic.
Divakurini shows the hardships immigrants have to face as they attempt to conform into a new environment. They must face the discrimination and an obvious feeling of being left out, while adjusting to the new country. This can lead to making one feel isolated and lonely because they no longer have a bond with their community. The discrimination the people in “Yuba City School” is very similar to the border controls and law epidemic in today’s America which are very discriminatory and xenophobic.