Jose Olivarez Poem Citizen Essay

The world is full of hatred and negativity; many people discriminate others. Some people have no way to escape, so they express their emotions and thoughts through poetry. In José Olivarez’s poem, “(citizen) (illegal),” the speaker is being challenged by society due to his upbringing as a Mexican and living in America. Thus, the poet uses repetition, stanzas, and line breaks to show that in America, one who has a different background has difficulty fitting in. Firstly, Olivarez uses repetition, repeating “(citizen)” and “(illegal),” to further highlight the way people depict the speaker. Olivarez’s poem reveals how the speaker is constantly being labeled, influencing his perspective in his own identity. While the speaker is determining if

In this poem, the speaker is criticized for being himself. During the speaker’s childhood, he describes how it is like in America, the author writes, "His 'Hellos' are in the wrong language (illegal)" (Olivarez 9). In this line from the stanza, one can conclude that the stanza is about the speaker struggling to be accepted as a Mexican. Americans consider him to be illegal because he says hello in Spanish, instead of English. This shows that Americans are very critical of how other people act. In contrast, the speaker is depicted as a citizen when he follows the stereotypical life of an American. As the speaker grows up, he realizes the only way to be a citizen, "If the boy attends college (citizen)" (Olivarez 20). In this line from the stanza, one can note that the stanza is about what one needs to do in order to be a citizen. Generally, Americans are able to attend college because they have a lot of opportunities, such as having enough money and choosing from a wide range of schools. The speaker is saying that in the eyes of Americans, the only way to be a true citizen, is to show that he has a good education. Overall, the stanzas show a contradiction of what it is like to be a Mexican and an