“I am accused of tending to the past” by Lucille Clifton
S - God
O - God reflecting on the accusations of humanity
A - Humanity
P - To not blame God for something humans are guilty of
S – History and its creator
TONE – Angry, shocked
Literary Critic
Lucille Clifton, in my opinion, does a magnificent job of conveying her message in this poem, in such a small passage. The reason I say this is because most of the time she is metaphorically speaking and when a metaphor is presented in any writing, there is a deeper meaning most of the time. I also like the fact that she leaves much ambiguous, but at the same time she doesn’t. The way I interpreted this poem is by the speaker being one of three personas: God, twenty-first century white person, or men today.
The reason I think the speakers is God is because when I first read this poem it seemed as though someone was being blamed. Then Immediately I thought about God because throughout history people blame God for the things that have happened to either the individual or a group of people. Clifton, through the voice of God, responds by saying that it is not God’s fault, but it is humanity’s fault. God created man and man, not God, created history, so if anything, it is humanity’s fault. Therefore, the audience is humanity and the occasion is a period in which God is reflecting on the accusations people are implying. My interpretation makes it clear on what the purpose of Lucille Clifton’s message is to not blame God for something humans are guilty of. Moreover, the speaker’s tone is at first angry because of the accusations, but turns into a more lesson teaching tone.
A different way of interpreting this could be the speaker being white people in our generation who might not be racist at all, rather the opposite, and are being blamed by minorities for what happened in past history. Men can also be the speaker because feminist women who blame men today for how men back in history treated women. Although not as good explanation of the speaker being God, they are equally as valid. Lucille Clifton message was clearly stated for me because the way I interpreted, “she is more human now…(until the end).” Is that History is in the making even today. Back to the interpretation of God being the speaker, He is warning them because He sees what is in story for us, humanity, as History grows.
S - God
O - God reflecting on the accusations of humanity
A - Humanity
P - To not blame God for something humans are guilty of
S – History and its creator
TONE – Angry, shocked
Literary Critic
Lucille Clifton, in my opinion, does a magnificent job of conveying her message in this poem, in such a small passage. The reason I say this is because most of the time she is metaphorically speaking and when a metaphor is presented in any writing, there is a deeper meaning most of the time. I also like the fact that she leaves much ambiguous, but at the same time she doesn’t. The way I interpreted this poem is by the speaker being one of three personas: God, twenty-first century white person, or men today.
The reason I think the speakers is God is because when I first read this poem it seemed as though someone was being blamed. Then Immediately I thought about God because throughout history people blame God for the things that have happened to either the individual or a group of people. Clifton, through the voice of God, responds by saying that it is not God’s fault, but it is humanity’s fault. God created man and man, not God, created history, so if anything, it is humanity’s fault. Therefore, the audience is humanity and the occasion is a period in which God is reflecting on the accusations people are implying. My interpretation makes it clear on what the purpose of Lucille Clifton’s message is to not blame God for something humans are guilty of. Moreover, the speaker’s tone is at first angry because of the accusations, but turns into a more lesson teaching tone.
A different way of interpreting this could be the speaker being white people in our generation who might not be racist at all, rather the opposite, and are being blamed by minorities for what happened in past history. Men can also be the speaker because feminist women who blame men today for how men back in history treated women. Although not as good explanation of the speaker being God, they are equally as valid. Lucille Clifton message was clearly stated for me because the way I interpreted, “she is more human now…(until the end).” Is that History is in the making even today. Back to the interpretation of God being the speaker, He is warning them because He sees what is in story for us, humanity, as History grows.
2 comments:
Noel. dude ur hella cool. I also did this poem and my interpretation was way different than yours. I like how you saw God as the speaker and I it made sense when you connected the speaker to white people and also the women. I would have never thought of that and it was cool to read a different perspective.
ps. im strill blossoming in fact i think many people are not until we learn how to accept each others' differences (to answer your q's)
I never would have thought of God to be the speaker of the poem. I actually thought that she was just reflecting on History itself and how humans birth history as their live continue and then they can later look back in the future.
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