Spoken Word Poetry Analysis

Suburbia by Phil Kaye: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-spXvscU80&feature=related

SLAM! or Spoken Word Poetry is a contemporary form of poetry which both conflicts with and conforms to traditional styles. Suburbia by Phil Kaye is one of the best Spoken Word poems ever produced. His poem, Suburbia, narrates the individual’s feverish struggle against conventional living and society’s forcefully encouragement to conform to normality as it promises “happiness”. The poem describes the self-induced dream in which “the city” lives in to avoid the result of her operation that has left her body devastated and unrecognizable. Although the city’s dream is initially euphoric the terror of reality slowly presents itself and challenges the happiness she believed suburbia to be with the nightmare it really is. The poem is intended to appeal to an audience who acknowledges that modern society is not ideal and want change. These individuals tend to be teenagers and young adults.

The poem Suburbia conveys an overwhelming statement about the conformity. The poem features a dispute between accepting and rejecting suburbia. It begins with the Kaye expressing that, “I love this place [suburbia]. The community, the people, the sense of stability. And this place, is amazing. This place is amazing.” (0:09). On the other hand, Kaye also urges the audience to, “Go [away from suburbia]. Farther, farther.” (2:57). He also address a loss of identity asking if, “We are all the same. Are we? Are we?” (3:31). In the poem, Kaye struggles with the concept of accepting suburbia because he understands the uniformity and loss of individuality associated with it. However, he often becomes distracted and diluted by the ‘amazing’ and ‘happy’ life suburbia promises. In the end, Kaye says, “Breathe. Breathe. Everyone is happy. You are only making this more difficult for yourself.” (3:38). Kaye is explaining that rebelling against conformity does not stop loss of identity because conformity is destined to happen. Everyone is doomed to become part of homogeneous society.

The content of Suburbia is very complex and thought provoking; however, it is the manner in which Phil Kaye preforms and structures his poem that makes it rise above others. When Kaye preforms Suburbia he uses facial expressions to highlight changes in tone and perspective. When the poem’s tone becomes more heated Kaye acts jittery and his voice becomes louder. When the tone is calmer, Kaye relaxes his posture and speaks slowly. Kaye uses hand actions to emphasize key ideas. For example, when talking about the implosion of a hundred thousand Japanese homes he closes his hands, when he talks about the explosion of American suburbia Kaye opens his hands. After viewing other SLAM! poetry videos its is clear that Phil Kaye uses a unique, dramatic style which draws in his audience in ways which other Spoken Word poets are not able to do. Through his voice and body language, Kaye is able to manipulate the mood of Suburbia so it portrays a higher level of the desperation and melancholy.

There are several literary devices used in Phil Kaye’s Suburbia. The most prominent device used in the poem is repetition. Kaye uses repetition to create many different, contrasting effects in his poem. In the beginning of Suburbia he says, “This place is amazing. This place is amaz, is amaz, is amaz.” (0:24). By using repetition in this way, it gives the words a broken quality and makes them sound like a song skipping on a vinyl record.  Kaye also uses the repetition of words with similar endings to create flow. For example when he says, “This is the twentieth century, we knew we’d reach the Pacific eventually, this is only a new manifest destiny.” (1:23). Metaphors are also central to Suburbia. The city is metaphorically referred to as a woman with, “the suitcase of her chest ripped open. Her highway innards scattered around the room.” (1:41). To describe the city’s body strong imagery is used. The city’s body in over populated, suburban areas is described as, “wrinkled, cracked, loose.” (0:52). In areas where her body remains untouched by man she is described as, “thick, overgrown…virgin.” (1:08). During the poem, Kaye alludes to the American Dream, “I was never truly sleeping, just for that moment American dreaming.” (2:00). By alluding to the American Dream Phil Kaye refers to the ideal life American society pursues, one key component of which was once to live in the suburbs. Kaye also alludes to the American Civil Rights Movement by referring to “Mr. Kennedy” or John F. Kennedy who was the president of the United States in the sixties. In conjunction with this, Kaye metaphorically compares the invasion of weeds into one’s front lawn with the movement to eliminate segregation and allow social minorities to live in purely white neighborhoods. In the 1960’s, both were seen as destructive and detrimental.

I am not a fan of classic poetry. When reading a poem by Edgar Allen Poe or William Wordsworth I can pick out the themes and literary devices but I can never understand the most important aspect of the poem, the mood. With Spoken Word Poetry, poems are recited so mood and tone can be interpreted through the speakers’ voice. I like Phil Kaye’s Suburbia because he is overly dramatic when he presents his poem. I felt like I could feel a stronger connection with this poem because of this dramatic element. Further, this year I took a Psychology and Sociology class in school. We spent a lot of time focusing on the concept of conformity and its impact on the individual and society. By having this specialized knowledge I was able to relate to and draw out different meanings within the poem. Understanding the message behind the poem is very important to me as it determines whether I will like or dislike the poem. I really like Suburbia because I can see the complexities of it’s structure and understand it’s meaning. There’s even a part of me that agrees with it.

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The Road Discussion Questions

Observations

1. Cormac McCarthy does not include several major details relating to the plot and characters in his book, The Road. McCarthy does not name the two main characters in the book. Instead. McCarthy assigns them the generic titles of “the boy” and “the man” as demonstrated throughout the book; specifically shown on page 17. Further, the story is set in post-apocalyptic United States of America. McCarthy does not identify the major catastrophe that caused the apocalypse nor does he give a general timeline of events. He only provides vivid descriptions of the setting, for example:

“The city was mostly burned. No sign of life. Cars in the street caked with ash, everything covered with ash and dust. Fossil tracks in dried sludge. A corpse in a doorway dried to leather.” (p. 12).

In other respects McCarthy provides very specific detail. For example, when the man and the boy come across a supermarket on the outskirts of a city they find a soft drink vending machine. Upon searching the machine, the man finds a single, unopened soda can specifically identified as Coca-Cola (page 23).

The world that the man and the boy live in is nameless and faceless. Identity and detail are rarely incorporated into the story. For that reason, when the author offers a very specific detail it is given greater meaning. In The Road, the coke can symbolizes the loss of the American way and the ideals of Western culture. Symbolism plays an important role in The Road as it offers meaning to an otherwise bleak story.

2. In The Road, there is a prominent, re-occurring theme depicting the struggle between good and evil. Throughout the book, the boy and the man talk about clashing morals. The boy often gives references to “the good guys” (p. 137) and “the bad guys” (p. 92).  McCarthy tries to draw a clear line between good and bad by placing his characters in the stereotypical good and bad roles society identifies with. The reader identifies the good guys as the boy and the man because of they have a strong father-son relationship. Stereotypically, family is regarded as a wholesome institution by society. The reader identifies the “bad guys” as structured, uniform groups (p. 91) and rugged, ruthless gangs of men (p. 61). The reader applies the pre-conceived opinion that groups of crude or conforming individuals are automatically bad. By appealing to these labels, McCarthy can easily manipulate the thought process of the reader and control how they view each character.

3. Because the boy and the man are “the good guys” their behaviour sets the precedent for what is considered “good” in The Road. The father and son try not to harm others and set strict moral principles for themselves. However, the man kills another person (p. 65) in an effort to protect his son. This breaks his own moral code. The reader must question if this makes the man a bad guy or if this is justifiable under the circumstances. Further, the boy frequently goes beyond the call of care to help others. This is evident when he offers food to Ely, an old man who is also travelling down the road (p. 166). Do the boy’s actions set a new, greater precedent for what the reader should consider to be ‘good’? McCarthy purposely leaves these questions unanswered giving his audience the task of making the final decision. Almost all goodness has disappeared from the world in the wake of the apocalypse. The man and boy are perceived as good because any small act of kindness would seem heroic in a world plagued by brutality, cannibalism and torture.  The reader must choose whether or not to judge the man and the boy by society’s current standard or the book’s standard of what is good.

4. Spirituality is a main component of The Road. It may seem like the boy believes in God (p. 286) but it is completely unclear whether or not the man does. The man seems to waver between believing and not believing. In certain sections the man’s faith seems evident as he begins to question the physical features of God (p. 11-12). However, the man’s faith is also questionable. He does not believe God will see the flares the man and boy will fire and in turn does not believe God will help them (p. 246).

It is clear, however, that the man sees holiness in the boy. He believes if the boy, “…is not the word of God God never spoke.” (p. 5).  The man believes the boy is his ward and it is his mission to protect the boy (p. 77). The man’s salvation is the boy. Whether or not he believes in God, the man views the boy as something worthy of his love and protection. Spirituality in The Road takes an unusual form as it is not solely based on conventional religion but instead faith in its simplest form:  just finding something to believe in.

5.  Memories work as a double-edged sword in The Road. The man, in conjuring memories, rediscovers the happiness, goodness and beauty of the old world. However, in recalling the wonders of the former world, he also remembers the harsh reality he now lives in. This becomes evident when the man says, “You forget what you remember and you remember what you forget.” (p. 12). Memory also threatens to consume the man. When he remembers past Christmases in his old home, the man forgets to focus on survival (p. 26). Further, in remembering the past the man realizes he alters the reality of his memories or does, “…violence to its origins.” (p. 131). Nostalgia superficially seems harmless but when looking closer it is clear that memories are both the salvation and destruction of the man.

QT Observation

The way in which Cormac McCarthy ends The Road underlines the hidden theme of the book. Throughout the story, the man and the boy reiterate that they must continue to “carry the fire” (p. 129). At the end of the book, the man explains that the fire lives within the boy and that he has always seen it there (p. 279).  A reasonable conclusion can be drawn that the fire the man is referring symbolizes the goodness of the human spirit and the will to survive. This can be interpreted as the theme of the book.

Upon further investigation another theme can be drawn from The Road. The book ends with the image of brooked trout in mountain steams (p. 287). The final lines mentions “things that could not be put back” which are “older than man” (p. 287). McCarthy leaves the interpretation of this passage open to the reader.

Personally, I believe this passage is a vehicle to mourn what earth once was. I do not believe the passage demonstrates renewed hope in survival. I believe McCarthy was trying to express that the earth is older than man and it is more complex, beautiful and mysterious than humans care to acknowledge. Our species forgets the duty we have to maintain earth’s balance. McCarthy’s hidden message warns us what was done wrong by man will not be made right by the planet and consequently earth will die.

Question

 

Q: Cormac McCarthy uses a very unique style of writing in The Road. How does McCarthy’s writing style effects the reader? Does the lack of grammatical detail distract or add to the book? Does the exclusion of certain details help the reader focus on the book’s message or cause the story to become confusing? Why do you think McCarthy chose to write the book this way?

Excepts from the Book

 

1.  Once there was a brook trout in the steams…they hummed of mystery.” (p. 286-287)

2.  “He fixed dinner while the boy played in the sand…Yeah. Maybe somebody like that.” (p. 245-246)

 

 

P.S. I tried to separate quotes of three lines from the main body text but it would not let me indent them

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