The speaker in "The Colonel" is a man who is visiting the colonel's home and having dinner their. The speaker is spanish and is representing his race and their status. Unlike other poems, this one does not have numbered lines and is written as just one sentence after another. It is done this way, so that when it is written, it will always look like a block written out, and even on both sides of the page. It gives it the appearance of being orderly and simple. The sentences in the poem are also very short and simple. They do not seem to be very poetic and are without ryhme.
The main focus of the poem seems to be the way that the speaker's race is looked down upon by the colonel and people like him. The setting of the poem gives a negative image. It includes descriptions of broken glass in the walls outside and gratings on the windows. Also, a pistol is included in the description sitting on a cushion next to the colonel's son. For dinner, they had lamb and wine. This Biblical allusion is significant becuase the lamb is often a symbol of innocence and while the speaker is innocent and pure, the Colonel clearly is not. Also the wine with the lamb represents blood, as it does biblically.
The Colonel dumps out many human ears in front of the speaker and his friend, trying to instill fear in them and show his power. He tells them that they have no rights, using foul language and belittles them by doing so. He drops one ear in water and it seems to come alive as he speaks. As if it was listening. The final lines say how some of the ears heard what he was saying while others did not. "Some of the ears on the floor were pressed to the ground." They are described like they do not want to hear what the Colonel has to say. This shows that there are some who do try and oppose the dominance and control over their race.
There is a clear dominance shown in the poem. Everything throughout the poem is said in terms of the colonel. Numerous times, things are mentioned as "his..." Another important detail in "his house" is the television. The programs playing seem to parallel the events in the dinner. While the speaker is there, a cop show is on "in English". The fact that they include that it was in English hints the whites dominance being shown and that it represents the colonel being in control of the everything and is the law. This is further emphasized a later sentence, "I was asked how I enjoyed the country. There was a brief commercial in Spanish." The one time the poem's speaker is able to say something back to the Colonel, the author is actually describing his speaking as the "brief commercial". The lack of quotations may be a sign that the speaker of the poem is like one of the ears is trying to block out the Colonel's words and not give in to those who think they are superior to him.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
I agree with your analysis of the poem. I also liked how you found the connection to what was on the tv to the life of the man which I completely missed. The commercial in spanish could also represent the lack of being true. It seems that the colonol asks the question out of being proper and obligation. He does not care what the speaker's response is which in today's society a lot of people do not have respect to the spanish community.
I like how you connected the tv to the life of the man, that was very insightful and great
I'm sure we are all equally braindead, i just happened to catch this, "The speaker in "The Colonel" is a man who is visiting the colonel's home and having dinner their" you used the wrong kind of "There" Otherwise i liked your connection from the TV to life. nicely done.
I think your analysis of the speaker is off due to the fact that this appears to be a letter. Also, the juxtaposition of civility and inhumanity is the central idea of the poem.
the person speaking is actually a woman, Carolyn Forche the author. Its a real even that occured when she was visiting El Salvador
Post a Comment