Summary Of Facing It By Yusef Komunyakaa

Yusef Komunyakaa in his poem, “Facing It.”, the topic of the Vietnam War and the memorial are used. In which, during the period when the memorial was released there was much controversy surrounding it because of how there were many differing point of views regarding the war and why it even started. Moreover, during that time period much of the homefront was very chaotic due to these different opinions, which led to political unrest and violence during that time. Therefore, especially when this poem was published in 1988, only about a decade after the war officially ended, where even the mere mention of this event could trigger memories of those who have served. Additionally, it could reopen the wounds of past events and consequences surrounding

Furthermore, this war was definitely one of America’s most divisive events in recent history, where there was many protests on the homefront. Consequently, with the many differing opinions on this war, which the memorial created some arguments between Americans. In fact, Komunyakaa was a part of this war . For instance, Kevin Stein writes in his journal article from The Massachusetts Review, “Komunyakaa creates a soldier's history of Vietnam from an African-American’s perspective, and not surprisingly, our view of what it was like to be an American in Vietnam, particularly a Black American...” (Stein 541). Therefore, Komunyakaa had personal experience from this specific war and the kind of effects it can have on himself and other veterans. Consequently, Komunyakaa was not the only one, where there were many young men who served in the Vietnam War who had to experience the brutality of war. In which, this is one of the reasons why this particular poem is universal, when regarding the themes, because a whole generation can relate to this. Therefore, the historical context, in addition to some context of the author, which only further demonstrates why Komunyakaa chose this specific theme to explore in his poem “Facing It.”, in

In which, he uses a simile and metaphors to create this image for his audience, of grief and despair. For example, Komunyakaa writes, “My clouded reflection eyes me like a bird of prey...” (Komunyakaa 1092). In which, this simile shows how . For instance, “My black face fades, hiding inside the black granite” (Komunyakaa 1092). In which, this shows how the speaker is one of millions of people who either fought or lost their lives in the war. Therefore, this reveals . Another example, the speaker describes, “A white vet’s image floats closer to me, then his pale eyes look through mine. I’m a window” (Komunyakaa 1093). Furthermore, throughout the poem Komunyakaa uses vivid imagery in order to paint the picture of what life was like for some Vietnam veterans during that time. In addition, the imagery that he uses connects back to what the theme of his poem is, memory of war. With the types of metaphors and the one simile that he uses, it is clear that the speaker is trying to show this type of memory that veterans experience many years after war. For instance, Stein writes “The terms of Komunyakaa’s dialectic are many and obvious: stone vs. flesh, night vs. morning, release from memories cold cell vs. imprisonment inside the Memorial which represents it” (Stein 556). In which, Stein is supporting the different themes of the poem, specifically the memory one.