A Rather Complex Passion

It really is a rather complex passion. Seeing the way Li-Young Lee describe the relationship he has with his father was quite painful to read for an Asian American individual. That which I myself as a child that also grew up in an Asian family, can relate.

What Lee has done with this poetry, is a magnification of the relationship a father have towards his son, if only we closely examine his use of imagery.

I am sure most of us have caught on to the "gift" Lee receives from his father, which he explicitly identifies as the “gift of tenderness.” What allures me however, is what Lee did not identify. Such as the “flame of discipline” that rises above his head. The imagery of flame usually symbolizes passion and urgency, and in this instance, both these subjects. Those hands have been passionately, urgently, educated Lee to become the mature man he is today (as he will in present time, use his own hands to remove splinters from his wife's right hand).

Those hands that can masterfully remove splinters from Lee's hands, not only serves to protect the young lee, but also promotes order and discipline in the young child. Those were the hands that teaches.

  From this imagery I have come to understand that those hands are not all holy and protective. But have somewhere along the line, been used to punish the young Lee.

Another interesting factor that I find from his use of imagery is the identification of the removed splinter as “a sliver tear, a tiny flame”. Knowing the fact that tears is a component of fluid, stands in complete juxtaposition with the component of flame. Yet they were used to identify the same splinter that is now in the hand of young Lee. This again hint on the irony, almost awkward nature of his father as a savior. Perhaps Lee’s father is one of those unlikely heroes, that only this part of his memory, does he come to commemorate him.

Whatever the case may be, this poem has proven effective in helping me feel the idea of love-hate relationship one would have with his/her parent(s). And all that is left to make of this complexity we have for our parent(s), as told by Lee, is the gesture of a kiss at the end of poem.

All the Fishes in the Sea

Ahhh... What more can we ask of the sun except for her to shine so beautifully on a Monday morning? Her radiance; so warm and welcoming it is as if the embrace of a lady. 

Sounds familiar? Perhaps a little "Elizabeth Bishop"?

 In our previous class, we are becoming slowly accustom to the habit of using literary terminologies. And to the degree that we've learned one very important tactic Bishop uses throughout the "Fish". And that is Personification. Personification is define as

the attribution of a personal nature or character to an inanimate objects or abstract idea. In other words, breathing life into the non-living. 

 

Of course there are numerous devices we can identify such as diction, imagery, symbols, blah blah blah... But what makes personification stand out so much,  is how apparent it is. So an important question to consider when analyzing any sort of literature, is to seek out the authors purpose. Why is a fish personified?  My analysis to the question is as followed:

To identify the similarities between the fish and the Speaker. 

There is something we need to know about the Speaker before moving on. Firstly, we must see that the Speaker has the power to make decisions. That is; to either kill the fish (if he did, I think there will be no poem) or to keep it alive. The poem begin by noting how tremendous the fish is; and therefore, it should be noted that there is no advantage of letting go of such a HUGE gain. Upon moving the fish onto the boat, we can immediately see that the Speaker notices specific details about the fish that we normally do not see present. For example "his brown skin hung in strips/like ancient wallpaper/and its pattern of darker brown/was like wallpaper:/shapes like full blown roses/stained and lost through ages." Everything from the brown skin to where there is patterns of darker brown, could be identified with the naked eye. So regular individuals would be able to notice these change of colors. However, as the Speaker speaks of the full blown roses and how it has stained and lost through ages, I can't help but think "Wow, that's crazy." 

Let's think logically. How do you go from brown skin-> ancient wallpaper->full blown roses->stained and lost through ages? You don't even know how old the fish is! Clearly the Speaker is becoming more emotionally attached to the fish than it is to be expected of normal people. The personification of these imagery is too apparent to be ignored. So it can be quite possible that the Speaker might be an expert Fisherman instead of Bishop herself, or he recently got out of a mental institution. Well of course, the latter wouldn't be in the case since it is a literary work. The Speaker also identifies himself with the fish long enough to recognize these patterns of roses and stains. In fact, he identifies with the aging of the fish. Such evidences of  noticing aging can also be seen further when he speaks of the fish's whiskers "Like medals with their ribbons/frayed and wavering/a five-haired beard of wisdom/trailing from his aching jaw."

Though I am not sure if a fish's whisker is a sign of age or not, I doubt it has anything to do with wisdom. But certainly the Speaker is again, seeing things that I am not seeing. He notes the wisdom that accompanies the "beard", and the "aching" (wasn't the aching YOUR fault in the first place? Since you hooked him up?) of its jaw. The Speaker is becoming quite sympathetic, even respectful the longer it looks at it (while it is dying due to lack of water). And ended up letting the fish go. 

Now that we have evaluate the position of the Speaker (man of power; who can control the faith of life and death) and the fish (age, wisdom, beautiful, struggling).  A man, of such infinite power was unable to kill a tiny fish (it is worthy to note that no matter how "tremendous" that fish is, it can't be anywhere bigger than the Speaker). Perhaps after smoking a jot, he notice these humanitarian qualities. The Fisherman now sees the similarities between the dying fish and himself, and perhaps thought to himself: "And I'm but also a fish, a helpless fish in the Sea." As insane as it may be, that could be Bishop's message to her readers. That every person of power should be the keen observers of the beauty, the wisdom, the age, and the struggles of every being. A world where we see ourselves; as merely the fishes in the sea.