Isaac Week 3 - "The Last Luxury, JFK, Jr." by Alex Dimitrov




 

In his poem, "The Last Luxury, JFK, Jr.", Dimitrov speaks about the feeling one gets when losing a family member and the process that person goes through. In the poem, Dimitrov uses a very soft tone, to a degree that it doesn't measure up to the real impact of the moment.

Dimitrov talks about dying early like "it’s the last luxury. To go early and never come back." This specific line shows how he views the world in general, and specifically how he views leaving this Earth. He calls dying young a luxury. This shows that he has a very negative view towards the world and that leaving the world early would be not only be a good thing, but it would be a great luxury.

The reason that I said Dimitrov portrays a soft tone is because of the ways that he addresses these big, worldview ideas. He talks about these ideas in a very chill way, playing down the fact that he is talking about death and leaving this Earth. 

I completely disagree with the author's opinion because I think that life is precious and cherish the fact that I am alive today. People only live for so long, and we are all here for a reason, so a person needs to be living to find out and accomplish their purpose, and the longer that person is alive, the stronger the impact that they make is. The author says it is a luxury to leave this Earth early, but I say it is a luxury to wake up every morning, knowing that it could've been your last day, but you ended up not leaving this Earth early.

What do you think about the author's opinion?

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poems/58167/the-last-luxury-jfk-jr

Comments

  1. Dori BaronOctober 12, 2021 at 8:08 PM

    Hi Isaac, I found this poem and your analysis interesting to read. I agree that it seems like Dimitrov has a more negative view on life, and it seems unusual that he writes about dying being a luxury (when typically it appears to be the opposite). It makes me curious about the background of Dimitrov and if he experienced any specific hardships that caused him to think this way. I personally disagree with his view on dying young being a luxury, too. I am very grateful for being able to live a healthy life and wake up everyday because there is so much left for me to experience in this world.

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  2. AnonymousOctober 13, 2021 at 7:20 AM

    Hi Isaac. Your analysis is very interesting and I understand how you could disagree. I could see both sides of the author's opinion and yours. Life is indeed precious and very short and you should cherish it, but I also understand how the author believes how life tends to get worse as you go on. You see the imperfections and ugliness in the world and it can get stressful and hard to see the good things in life. Dying young lets you leave this world with a positive view of it, especially children, who tend to see the best in things. I just say yolo and go with the flow, but I'm sure if I was in the face of death, I'd feel the same way as you and cherish my life and want to live.

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  3. AnonymousOctober 18, 2021 at 4:40 PM

    Hi Isaac,
    I have recently found myself thinking about what my life will be like when I'm older. One of the worst things that I can think about happening is watching my parents and grandparents die. I have not experienced a family member dying, but it is something that I fear, and causes more anguish to the family member than to the person dying (they can't really feel anything anymore). I still would not die to prevent myself from watching my loved ones die though. This reminds me of the question of "would you want immortality?" and everyone says no after thinking about it a little. Like you said, everyone has their own time and purpose to live, but they also have their own time to die, which is not negative per se, but just recognizing that you feel fulfilled and are ready to say goodbye.

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