L.R.
English 2202
23 July 2002
I have a totally different idea about the poem, "Hanging Fire," than the class had. I think this poem is about one of Audre Lorde's children and how they see life and her as their mother.
In the introduction about Audre Lorde, it says that she married in 1961 and later had two children. It doesn't say when she had these children though. If she had a child in 1964, it would make them 14 years of age in 1978, when the poem was written. This would explain why she says, "I am fourteen," in the first line. (#1)
I think that this child could have told her things about how she feels. Some information that the child is talking about seems like things that a child would tell their mother. For example, in the second line, maybe she told her mom (Lorde) that she just couldn't live without a certain boy. Other things that she could have mentioned to her mom are, I need to learn to dance, my room's too small, do I have to wear braces, and I don't have anything to wear tomorrow. In lines 25-28, when she mentions that nobody thinks about her side of it, doesn't this sound like something a child would say when they feel they have been misunderstood? I think that is just another thing she told her mom, so her mother could sympathize with her. (#2)
When she continually talks about death, I think maybe she has mentioned this to her mother. Maybe she is very depressed, or maybe she is just acting like a normal teenager. A lot of teenagers have a hard time, and talk about death. It's when it's talked about excessively that it is a problem.
At the end of all of the stanzas, she writes the same thing. I think that this line is just describing what Audre Lorde is doing. I think that she is in the bedroom with the door closed, just because she is writing poetry. This is maybe the way her child sees her, as always in the bedroom with the door closed, writing poetry. (#3) (#4)
(366 words)
Prof's Comments:
(#1) Good possible chronology!
(#2) This paragraph gets a bit confusing -- it's hard to keep track of all the pronouns.
(#3) ...continue...! It then also suggests ideas about their relationship -- and that Lorde realizes that she is inaccessible!
(#4) Good work