Summary Of Discrimination By Kenneth Rexroth

The poem “Discrimination” by Kenneth Rexroth is about a person who claims to have no problems with the human race, but doesn’t want to be close to them. The speaker says that over the years, they have gotten used to constantly being around people in restaurants or in public, but doesn’t want to interact with them. He goes on to say that he doesn’t want women he respects dancing with other people, or his sister to marry one of them. Throughout the poem, Rexroth uses imagery, repetition, and free verse to illustrate his disdain for the human race. In lines four through seven, Rexroth says “I don’t mind if they sit next/To me on streetcars, or eat/In the same restaurants, if/It’s not at the same table.” These words create an image of the speaker in the reader’s mind, sitting on his own in a restaurant, while other people sit with friends and family, as the speaker sits in a misanthropic bubble. Another example of imagery found in the poem are lines eight through ten; “However I don’t approve/Of a woman I respect/Dancing with one of them. These lines create a picture of the speaker in a bar or club sulking in a corner, alone, while he glares at women dancing with other people. The use of imagery in this poem helps the reader see the speaker and how he might behave when faced with a social situation.

Only once does Rexroth use the term “human race”. After that, he simply refers to the human race as “them” or “their”, or as seen in lines ten and fourteen, “one of them”. Repeating these terms over and over again dehumanizes the subject of this poem, and causes the speaker’s hostility towards people to become more prominent. The author also repeats the word “I” many times, which stresses the fact that this is the speaker’s opinion towards the human race, and not anyone else’s. Repetition of the word “I” also creates a snobby and selfish