In the poem, Tupac says “learned to walk without having feet. Funny it seems, but by keeping it's dreams, it learned to breathe fresh air.” The use of figurative language with “learned to walk without having feet'' shows how the rose had to grow through the difficulties of growing in a harsh environment. Tupac then later says “But by keeping it’s dreams, it learned to breathe fresh air.” This quote shows how the rose, even though not placed in the best situation, pushed through the challenge of being grown in a crack of concrete.
Alden Nowlan's short story, The Glass Roses, creates a melancholy tone with a contemplative mood. The setting of a rural sawmill, the rough atmosphere of those that surround Stephen, and his inner conflicts play a significant role in creating such mood and tone. Nowlan paints a picture of their surroundings being "a maelstrom of darkness" (Nowlan 5) and speaks to how "the wind...was still raw enough to lacerate [his] temples" (Nowlan 2) emphasizing the unforgiving nature of their job. Such imagery could also be a reflection of Stephens's inner turmoil as he struggles to belong amongst the men and his world too is "a maelstrom of darkness" all of which contributes to the melancholy tone. Further, Stephen's struggle to belong and conform contributes
The title of the short story “Glass Roses” by Alden Nowlan summarises the fragility of nonconformists in a society dominated by a collective stereotype. From the society's perspective, someone who is different is automatically classified as a misfit, solely on the premise of being anything other than the ‘norm’. The title “Glass Roses” represents Leka and Stephen at the pulp mill, as they possess different values and characteristics from the men with “ox-like shoulders”. They are beautiful in their own right; their beauty shines in comparison to “the monotonous rhythm of the pulp saw”. Unlike the men of the pulp cutting crew, Stephen and Leka engage with stories of fairy tales and beautiful cathedrals.
Shattered “There is not much room in the world for glass roses.” On a daily people attempt to live their lives in accordance with their own values but can be constrained towards certain actions because they feel obligated and/or forced to do so. Alden Nowlan’s short story “The Glass Roses” demonstrates the role of self-preservation in response to competing demands through a “willowy fifteen-year-old” protagonist who is faced with conflicting views on the true meaning of manhood. Throughout the story Stephens beliefs are detained and tested by the pulp-cutters, the Polack, and his father.
The sequences of war are substantially portrayed by David Malouf within his novel Fly Away Peter. Through the use of various literary techniques and conventions, Malouf explores and incorporates the idea of peace before war, obligations and events at war, death, and the aftermath of war. The text is written in 1914, a timeless era on the Queensland coast. This was at the time of the first outbreak of World War 1, when most young men felt obligations to defend their nation in a foreign country. In the case of the protagonist, Jim Saddler, the trenches of the Armentières is where he fought for his nation in this tale of companionship and continuity.
The rose-bush conveys a brighter and joyful tone, which is evident when words like “delicate gems” and “fragile beauty” are used as descriptors. The rose-bush is further talked about as a happy symbol for people walking into the prison: “...and to the condemned criminal as he came forth to his doom, in token that the deep heart of Nature could pity and be kind to him.” This quote shows parallelism while talking about someone’s heading to their doom, and having something even that small to give them joy. The parallelism used here is in place to help shift the tone from gloomy and depressed, to something brighter and happier.
The poem states, “...-it is in that split second, when perhaps the roses drink and the clouds form, that I most understand the invisibility of life and the intensity of vanishing, like steam at the slick edges of the mirror, without a trace. (Line 24-29)”, the author relates how the mystifying of nature, which where used to create similes, is not actually a mystery but just how life goes. The selection of detail that explains why or how roses get their water and answer some of the other mystifying previously mentioned is a way for the readers to see the narrator’s thoughts and his coming to peace with the mysteries of the world. The quote relates back to the narrator as he questioned how certain aspects of nature arrived, but realizes that these things are just how life passes on, which the narrator can relate back to his father. Since the father passed away at a young age, the narrator questioned why his father left him at such an early age at the beginning of the poem, but at the end of the poem, he realizes that he can not spend his whole life questioning why things happen because life is something that constantly moves forward.
The poem mentions a flower, one that is “unsweetened by rain, untarnished by simpering, uncuckolded by men” (Maracle 156), pointing out to the reader that the flower is tenacious regardless of the situation that it is placed in. Maracle intentionally chooses a flower to represent the Chinese, as oftentimes a flower is symbolizes “strength and courageousness” (Koehn 1952) in chinese culture, revealing the respect that Maracle has for the Chinese. A discriminatory act upon the Chinese was the racial segregation into Chinatown during the time of the gold rush and the building of the railroad. Overtime, the segregation caused many Chinese to be silenced, fearing for their lives. Maracle chooses to dedicate the poem to Sky Lee and Jim Wong-Chu to show gratitude for the developments they have made towards encouraging the Chinese community to speak out against
A rose to her is cliché and something transient, for roses withers away in a couple of days. Their leaves are “fragile” in line 6 barely holding on like the relationship, it can be broken quite quickly. It dangles precariously, it’s something fleeting which is what the author does not want. She emphasizes and stresses this point through the repetition of the line “one perfect rose,” at the close of each
There are many young individuals that struggle with their own identity and individuality. Many of them have a hard time coping to figure out who they are and want to be. When a parent is raising a child they teach them their own set of morals and beliefs. In the short story “The Glass Roses” written by Alden Nowlan it shows the struggles of a fifteen year old boy who is trying to live up to his father’s expectations to make him proud.
Another portion of the text that is worth analyzing is whether or not the poet is a real person or a generalization about all or most poets. All of the lines in the poem use general text and never label a specific person. What’s interesting about the text is that without the title it would be nearly impossible to distinguish whether or not the person the poem is about is a poet or not. The way the text allows the reader to find a figurative meaning to the poem is by being vague enough and
The rose bush grew just outside the prison doors and has been there for a very long time. It is seen as imperfect because, while it may look beautiful, each rose has its own thorns. Hawthorne explains, “It may serve, let us hope, to symbolize some sweet moral blossom, that may be found along the track, or relieve the darkening close of a tale of human frailty and sorrow” (Hawthorne 46). This quote shows that the rose bush can be interpreted differently by every reader. It can be seen as good or bad because it is by the prison and has thorns, but it also has beauty.
Shakur deeply wishes that others would take the same opportunity that he made for himself and let it be a model for all that pursuing one’s dreams is key to living a long life. Tupac then explains that the rose also learned to breathe on its own when he conveys “Long live the rose that grew from concrete when no one else ever cared” (The Rose That Grew From Concrete 7-8). Shakur uses alliteration when he says “long live” in reference to the rose. Shakur is saying long live because he was one of the few that actually made it out of the ghettos and made something of himself, which deserves
From a reader’s point of view, it is obvious to say that the poem is an autobiography describing the author’s life. Tupac Shakur was a man who grew up in the Bronx, New York who eventually became a famous rapper that everyone came to love. He wrote this poem about having ambitious goals and reaching them despite the circumstances he had faced growing up in a very poor community. He uses symbolism and disguises himself as the rose that grew from the concrete which was the ghetto. He uses the words “proving nature’s law is wrong it”.
This conveys the message because it speaks truth to how Shakur never got unhappy with himself while struggling through life in the ghetto even without the help of peers and family. The speaker talked about how the rose was able to overcome adversity in order to get where it wanted to be, and no matter what the rose was given it solved its problems by itself and “the rose… grew from concrete when no one else cared” (8/9). This quote demonstrates to the reader that without help of others the rose with devotion and will power was able to conquer its dreams. The ideology of battling through hard times and conquering dreams is a common practice that still rings true to this day. Shakurs poem, The Rose that Grew from Concrete is a story about how the rose, a symbol of Shakur, and the concrete, a symbol of hardship can be overcome with perseverance and dedication.
