I think the irony in this poem is situational. The speaker finally tells his mother what she thinks she wants to hear, but it turns out not really to be what she wants. It makes me think of the story of Goldilocks, in a way; the mother thinks she has too little information, then thinks she has too much. This feeling reflects the sentiment of the general American public during the Vietnam War. The people wanted to be informed; they thought it was their right to know, just like the mother in this poem. But when it came down to it, they weren't prepared for the horrors that showed up on their TV screens; they had never seen what war was actually like. When they did truly see war, the people then wanted nothing to do with it. Just like those people, the mother in the poem really had no idea what war was like.
I found it interesting how the poem ends sort of the same way it started. But all in all, it was kind of depressing to read.
Until Next Time,
Alysse
No comments:
Post a Comment