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Natasha Trethewey

1469 Words6 Pages

Poetry is a form of art that individuals use to express how they are feeling, or to express events that are surrounding their life, and that is exactly what Natasha Trethewey does every time she writes a poem. Natasha Trethewey is known for intertwining both the past and the future of the African American experience and turning it into a history lesson for the world to read and experience. Natasha Trethewey is a mixed race woman with an African American mother and a Caucasian father. She was born in 1966 in Gulfport, Mississippi (Mililichap, 1). According to Joseph Mililichap, Natasha Trethewey is America’s Poet Laureate (Mililichap, 1), along with being awarded the Pulitzer Prize for her poetry in 2007. Natasha Trethewey’s poems are seen …show more content…

This phrase or statement for me was a history lesson, and it also appeals to readers. For readers that may have some knowledge of the 1970’s era and the treatment of people of color in Mississippi, this poem may bring back memories that may be refreshing, the same way they were for the young girl in the poem. The poem could bring back memories that are negative, are similar to the ones of the grandmother of the young girl in the poem. It is an assumption that the grandmother’s experience on the beach was negative, however, I believe that the grandmother was familiar with being treated differently because of the color of her skin. Leaving a readers to assume the history of the characters can be seen as risky for readers that are unfamiliar with the unfair treatment of people of color. Natasha Trethewey is known for using metaphors to explain situations, and this is actually what she did when she pointed out the difference between the time and her, with the time and her grandmother that is explained in both stanza one and six. “My hands on the flowered hips of a bright bikini” where she is referring to herself, and “Her hands on the flowered hips of a cotton meal-sack dress”. This metaphor compares the change in the life experience of African American people or the era of time, and awareness of Jim Crow laws. Stanza one and six also reflects symbolism that shows the progress from one life style to another, from underprivileged to somewhat

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