Alyssa Cassano March 8, 2014
Poetry explication essay English 104
“DEAR WORLD”
“Dear world” by Paula Gunn Allen is a poem that elaborates on the living and the dead who have experienced the internal isolation of feeling that you do not belong. Isolation is defined as the process or fact of isolating or being isolated. This poem illustrates many literary elements which are expressed throughout the poem. Allen explains the context of the poem, which concerns her mother's illness and isolation she is going through. Allen also expresses her feelings on how her mother went through her illness by being a half-breed. Half Native American and half American, which are isolated in her body and makes the disease unbearable for her to deal with. In the first part of the poem Allens mother sees lupus as a “ self -attack”; because her blood types are half Native American and the other American. This presents a point of view in the poem.”She says that the disease is like calling the police when a mugger breaks into her home and then having the police attack the victim instead of the mugger (first stanza, Paula Allen)”. This is stating that both the Native American and American in her are isolating themselves from one another inside her body, because each of them believe that one another do not belong in her system. Her two halves keep battling each other and isolating themselves more and more, which makes the disease stronger and worse for her to fight off. She believes that both of her blood types will never be able to work together, because they do not understand each other and do not want to become one with one another. For the second and third part of the poem, Allen explains and gives more detail about the truth of her mother's mental representation in the poem in an ironic tone kind of way. Allen proves that Native Americans and Americans can not work together or come together, because they simply can not get alone with each other. Both cultures just do not like the way each other live and also can not except it. It is easy to see in the poem that the two different genetics in her mothers blood are are causing “Conflicting Strains” ( Allen Line 15) throughout her blood which soon will destroy each other and her mother. This endless battle between her mothers two halfs is very painful and upsetting for her to see. Knowing that you can not do
