Dori Week 1 PAP: A Flounder Perspective on Society
“Flounder” by Natasha Trethewey is a poem written in 2000, describing a fishing trip with her Aunt Sugar. In her poem, Trethewey utilizes both dialogue and imagery to allow the reader to have a better glimpse of the memorable trip the author went on. Trethewey describes even the seemingly small aspects of the trip when she writes, “Aunt Sugar rolled her nylons down around each bony ankle, and I rolled down my white knee socks letting my thin legs dangle,” and “[Aunt Sugar] sat spitting tobacco juice into a coffee cup.” Through mentioning these details, Trethewey evokes the senses of the reader to enable them to better visualize many aspects of the scene and feel more immersed in the story. Trethewey also includes dialogue such as, “You ‘bout as white as your dad, and you gone stay like that,” to reveal the personality of her aunt and to show rather than tell the complex dynamics the author has grown up with. When Trethewey describes catching a flounder fish, as the pole was “reeling and tugging hard,” her aunt highlights that she can tell it's a flounder fish because “one of its sides is black. The other side is white.” This seems to be a critical part of the story that the author draws attention to in order to illustrate a point and use this simple fish as a metaphor. Just as the fish is both black and white, so is Trethewey: just as the fish is described as flip-flopping and struggling, so has the author as someone who is biracial. Trethewey utilizes dialogue, imagery, and metaphor to reveal her struggles and experiences as a biracial woman in society. Biracial individuals, unfortunately, tend to struggle with not knowing which community they belong to/fit in with, feeling inauthentic, or questioning what their identity really is. They also may deal with criticism from others if they do not seem “white enough,” “black enough,” etc.
I very much enjoyed reading this poem because this anecdote was captivating to read, gave me a personal insight into who the author is behind her words, and educated me more on what someone who is biracial can potentially experience in a metaphoric, creative way. I feel it is crucial that everyone listens to the voices of biracial/multiracial people who have meaningful contributions and unique struggles that do not get discussed as often as they should be. Everyone deserves to feel like they belong.
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/52891/flounder
Hi Dori,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed what you had to say about the poem. When I first read it I didn't even notice how she used the flopping flounder as a metaphor for the author struggling with her identity. That was a really neat detail that you pointed out.
Hi Dori, this was a very interesting analysis. The first time I read the poem, I had no idea what it was about. The second time I read it I had a feeling it had to do with race, but I couldn't understand it well. After reading your analysis I have a much better understanding of the just of the poem. It makes sense that the poet would use the fish as a metaphor for her living as a biracial woman. Very interesting perspective and it adds a lot of depth to a seemingly normal fishing trip.
ReplyDeleteHi Dori. I loved your analysis of this poem. I hasn't even considered what this poem was about and was kind of confused why she was going into such great detail about a fishing trip with her aunt. Your attention to detail though helped me understand the metaphors of her struggles being a biracial individual. This poem is so moving and really helps the readers understand her struggles and the experiences she's been through being biracial.
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