Of Death In Conversation, And Li-Young Lee's 'Persimmons'

Robert Frost and William Shakespeare have been celebrated by many people because of their ability to express themselves through the written word. Here we are years after their deaths analyzing these fascinating poems about life and death. It’s clear they had similar thoughts about this subject at the time of these writings, even though their characters could not have been more opposite. For both poets, life is too

The repetition in the writing is when the prisoners of the concentration camps have to go through roll call every day. This is terrifying because if you make one wrong move, you get shot. Then, they restart the roll call, which makes you need to stand there even longer risking your life. Sometimes, they even shot you for no reason at all. Another use of repetition in the book was what they ate everyday. They ate bread and/or soup. You didn’t even get that much. This terrified the prisoners because it wasn’t very tasty to start with, but it didn’t help eating it everyday. They were too scared not to eat it, though, because you could starve to death if you didn’t. The author uses repetition to show the theme of

Lee was a vital character in East of Eden as he prompted some of the most meaningful conversations and questions for other characters and readers, themselves. Many critics view Lee as the stereotypical, “inscrutable, wise Oriental man” because of the times when he was robustly Chinese. Although, in Part two of the story, Lee tried to convince himself that he was “American”, but acted Chinese as it was what people expected from him. Lee said to Samuel, “Pidgin they expect, and pidgin they’ll listen to. But English from me they don’t listen to, and so they don’t understand it.” (Steinbeck, 163) Lee thought it was best for him to stick with his status quo, and he did with the way he spoke and the way he looked.

Lee faces the influence of environmental pressures from the weight of being the son of immigrant parents hired to construct railroads. Despite his attempt at assimilation into American culture through removing his queue, speaking English, and donning American clothing, “To the so-called whites [Lee] was still a Chinese, but an untrustworthy one; and at the same time [his] Chinese friends steered clear of [him]” (Steinbeck 162). Lee was considered far too American for the Chinese, yet far too Chinese for Americans. Consequently, Lee spent much of his life speaking pidgin and kept his queue to blend in to the preset image Americans had of him, sporting “His long black glossy braided queue…[which]hung over his shoulder and moved rhythmically against his chest...He wore narrow cotton trousers, black heelless slippers, and a frogged Chinese smock…[and] hid his hands in his sleeves...as most Chinese did in this day” (Steinbeck 159). By adopting the language and mannerisms of the typical Chinese immigrant, Lee disguised his true identity for the sake of achieving a sense of acceptance within society. He recognized that although this method would not solve his issue, it was a way of feeling powerful in a society that dominated his culture and removed from him his identity. He makes the point that when conversing with most Americans, “Pidgin they expect, and pidgin they’ll listen to. But English...they don’t listen

To begin the poem, Lee begins by recalling an experience in which he was singled out in class for not knowing the difference between the words “persimmon” and “precision”, probably due to the differences in the Chinese and English Language. This being the first stanza introduces the readers to how Lee finds himself in the position of a cultural outsider to this new American culture. The persimmon in this stanza elicits a more negative memory but is the first interaction between cultures where the persimmon is one of the main focal points. As Steven Yao mentions, “these initial lines establish the body as the site upon which the issue of ethnicity, in its personal as well as social dimensions, will play out over the

The following stanza nine, the poet has found two persimmons wrapped in newspaper in the cellar. He takes them and puts them in his windowsill to ripen. Again, the persimmons are an important symbol because in stanza

The third stanza transitions into Lee discussing an intimate moment that he is sharing with a white girl named Donna. This scene seems like the turning point in which Lee recognizes the fading aspects of his Chinese heritage. The fact that Lee makes it evident that the girl he is sleeping with is white really highlights how he is now fully immersed in American Culture. He also talks about trying to teach Donna different words in Chinese, but there are some words that he has forgotten. Lee forgetting these words emphasizes a point in his life where he might have identified more with his American Culture; he does not dwell on the fact that he cannot remember these words and gets right back into telling her how beautiful she is in English. This is an instance where Lee’s cultural identity might have lied been more in line with American values rather than his Chinese values.

When she did a comparison of the boys and girls who were in the second grade, she felt that she was peeping at the discourse of “ two different species”. For instance, two girls would sit agreeably face-to-face and go on with an important conversation about people they knew. However, when it came to boys and asked to talk about “something important” they became restless and would hardly look at each other. She also observed that they jumped from topic to topic and liked most to talk about games and competition. This very stylistic were too revealed on older kids.

The passage is written in first-person narrative, providing the reader with meaningful insights from the boy who has lost his mother. The author makes use of varying sentence styles. Simple sentences are used to merely narrate the event - ‘Mr. Chin was shouting instructions. Mrs. Chin called my name.’ These simple sentences help maintain a slow pace of the text, and create a dull tone to commemorate the death. Some sentences like the ones in Lines 3-5 are fragmented, revealing the incident one step at a time.

Two of Emily Dickinson’s poems, “I heard a Fly buzz-when I died” and “Because I could not stop for Death” are both written about life’s stopping point, death. Although the poems are written by the same poet, both poems view death in a different manner. Between the two poems, one views death as having an everlasting life while the other anticipates everlasting life, only to realize it does not exist. While both poems are about death, both poems also illustrate that the outcome of death is a mysterious experience that can only be speculated upon with the anticipation of everlasting life.

Death is part of the human life cycle, approximately 151,600 people die each day. Everyone wonders how they will die, if they suffer, if it’s tragic or if it’s just simply peaceful. In each of the three poems the main focus is death. Each poem shows a different feeling about death. “Thanatopsis” by William Bryant, “Don’t Fear the Reaper” by Blue Oyster Cult and “Dust in the Wind” by Kansas, all have different meanings of death.

Regardless of race, caste, religion, or age, every human has wondered about the one fact of life that unifies us all: What is death? Both poems, “Death of a Young Son by Drowning” by Margaret Atwood and “Because I could Not Stop for Death” by Emily Dickinson share a common subject of death. Using figurative language, both poems illustrate distinct takes on a similar topic.

In “Persimmons,” death informs each community's conception of an ideal. In this short story, the farmers had a dispute over whether or not Lao Da was rightfully punished for his actions. Some of the farmers said, “I have been thinking- maybe heaven is angry not because of Lao Da, but for him” (176 Yiyun Li).

Mary Oliver’s poem, “Sleeping in the Forest,” presents a peaceful and vivid representation of death and its relationship with nature. As the poem begins, the reader is introduced to the earth welcoming the speaker back into the realm of nature. Man was created from the dust of the earth and when we die, our bodies return to the dust. However, this poem presents a more beautiful image of what death is composed of. Death is often portrayed as being frightening and disturbing. When individuals are presented with the thought of death, they often push this thought away out of fear and ignorance. Everyone will die someday whether we ignore the thought of death or not. However, Oliver creates a relaxing and welcoming image for the reader on what death (ideally) is. Obviously, since Oliver is still alive, she doesn’t know what death feels like. However, the way she describes death, I hope that it feels like sleeping in a forest; full of stars and enchantment.

The repetition presents the reader with a sense of both order and chaos at once, which in turn illustrates the subject’s mental state.