Sam
Cimino
Mr.
Hamilton
AP
Literature 6th hour
4
November 2014
Alzheimer’s by Kelly Cherry
Biography
on Kelly Cherry: Kelly Cherry was
born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and grew up in Ithaca, New York, and
Chesterfield County, Virginia. She did graduate work in philosophy at the
University of Virginia and earned an MFA from the University of North Carolina
at Greensboro. Cherry was the daughter of violinists, and her early exposure to
music has had a profound effect on her work, which ranges in genre from poetry
to novels to short fiction to memoir to criticism. Here we see a demonstration
of her criticism of the mind numbing disease otherwise known as “Alzheimer’s”.
He stands at the door, a
crazy old man
Back from the hospital, his mind rattling
like the suitcase, swinging from his hand,
That contains shaving cream, a piggy bank,
A book he sometimes pretends to read,
His clothes. On the brick wall beside him
Roses and columbine slug it out for space,
claw the mortar.
The sun is shining, as it does late in the
afternoon
in England, after rain.
Sun hardens the house, reifies it,
Strikes the iron grillwork like a smithy
and sparks fly off, burning in the bushes--
the rosebushes--
While the white wood trim defines solidity in
space.
This is his house. He remembers it as his,
Remembers the walkway he built between the
front room
and the garage, the rhododendron he planted in
back,
the car he used to drive. He remembers
himself,
A younger man, in a tweed hat, a man who loved
Music. There is no time for that now. No time
for music,
The peculiar screeching of strings, the
luxurious
Fiddling with emotion.
Other things have become more urgent.
Other matters are now of greater import, have
more
Consequence, must be attended to. The first
Thing he must do, now that he is home, is
decide who
This woman is, this old, white-haired woman
Standing here in the doorway,
Welcoming him in.
Analysis:
Poems express anger or outrage just effectively as
love or sadness, and good poems can be written about a plethora of things. What
a poem says involves its theme. How a poem makes that statement involves its
tone (the poem’s attitude or being toward the theme). Interestingly enough, “tone”
is a term borrowed from acoustic and music, which is one of the area’s Kelly
draws inspiration form – and it refers to a speaker’s intended effect. Tone is
closely related to style and diction is an effect of the speaker’s expressions
as if showing a real person’s feelings, manner, and attitude or relationship to
a listener and to the particular subject or situation.
There comes a time when we wall get old. The lucky
ones are able to retain and cherish the memories of years gone by. However,
sometimes when we get old our great minds begin to wither away and along with
our minds becoming less sharp, we lose our memories of our youth. In this poem,
“Alzheimer’s”, Kelly Cherry describes a memory from her experience with her
experience with her elderly father who suffers with the disease. She gives us a
glimpse into the frustration and pain felt by those affected by Alzheimer’s,
not necessarily just the person who has it but also the people who love them.
As this poem goes on we see how Cherry’s attitude
shifts from bitterness to sadness and sympathy. Phrases like “a crazy old man”
and “a book he sometimes pretends to read” indicates a subtle bitterness
towards her father and his illness. She has a somewhat satirical tone to start
off the poem, and those phrases show us that. She continues to take us through
his experience coming home from his latest trip to the hospital by telling us
about how he walks into his house. She says “This is his house, and he
remembers it as his…” she then goes into the various details of the house, “the
walkway he built in the front room and the garage, the rhododendron he planted
in back, the car he used to drive.” In the next few lines she tells about her
father recalling the days of his youth and how he used to love music, but he doesn’t
love it anymore not because he doesn’t want to, but because he physically can’t.
She then changes to a sad and almost sympathetic tone when, she talks about the
heart-breaking moment when he walks through the door and has to “decide who
this woman is, this old, white-haired woman standing here in the doorway,
welcoming him in.” That woman is his wife.
That one sentence was worth a thousand words.
Alzheimer’s is a horrible disease because it not only effects the person diagnosed
with it, but the people who love them too. Cherry’s shift form a satirical tone
to a sympathetic tone shows the turmoil that those affected by the disease go
through every day. It’s kind of ironic to me how they say that as you age you
gain wisdom, but here we see that that is not always the case. We must cherish
all of our memories and live in every moment because you never know when you
will lose them.
Really nice analysis of tone and theme. You don't need so much intro/background for these - try to get right into what you're talking about and be both thorough and clear.
ReplyDeletewow fantastic, love your work
ReplyDeleteGreat analysis,provides clarity.Thank you,it's very helpful
ReplyDelete