The argument Fields makes in “Aardvark” is that Malcolm X will never be forgotten. Fields compares him to an aardvark for two reasons she writes, “When I read the dictionary the first thing I see is that animal staring at me. Firstly she compares him to an animal because he was very wild in his early days. Secondly, the animal, or word “Aardvark” begins with two A’s. Therefore it is generally one of the first definitions in the dictionary. Malcolm X was someone who is very famous, and when you think of influential civil right leaders, just like the dictionary he is one of the first words to be displayed.
Fields style of poetry is shows in the three separate stanza headings. They seem to show the past, present, and near future. In the first stanza, in which the heading is “since,” Fields describes the after effect of Malcolm X’s death in the present. In the second stanza, “And then” serves as a way for Fields thoughts when she looks back. And finally, “ Looks like Malcolm X helped” is a thank you to his contribution, and it provides the reader at the time a thought of the near future. With all the breaks in between the stanzas the poem is very powerful once read
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Justice makes various symbolic connections with the little text he provides. The original poem was derived from a kid toy description, and was not intended to have any meaning but that of advertisement. However an interesting thing to note is that Jeep is an American made brand, and in the text it is the most dominant thing. Justice states, “Jeep rushes to the scene of riot / ... After putting down riot, jeep goes back to the headquarters” (lines 3 - 16). Given the timing the poem probably refers to the Vietnam War, an unnecessarily long war. The war started because the U.S. interfered, and that was much to the dismay of many Americans who would share the argument Justice