Sunday, November 1, 2009

What We Don't Tell the Children #3

Explain the importance of this stanza:

"Tufts of rabbit fur
in backfield weeds, shred of meat
still warm on bones,
blood drops in warm earth." (10-13)
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12 comments:

  1. Tsegu KahsayNovember 1, 2009 at 8:47 PM

    This is about a rabbit attacked and killed by the two wild black cats. In the backyard of the house there was a sign of attacked rabbit which you can notice from the worm blood on the earth and the flesh still attacked to the bones.

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  2. AnonymousNovember 2, 2009 at 8:50 AM

    It shows you the nature of the blacks and the calm understanding of the father. In the third and fourth paragraph, the father speaks of his new neighbors in a very sarcastic tone. In the fourth paragraph the father states, "They moved out month after they moved in, truck loaded with paintbrushes, canvasses, cameras, to find another primitive place…place with no problems, no animal attacks another, where gentle folk are as groomed as heirloom porcelain...” He sarcastically expressed how the artists lacked understanding of what primitive meant. The animals do not live by the laws people provide, sometimes you have to understand and abide by the laws the animals lay down in order to live in harmony.

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  3. JosephNovember 2, 2009 at 8:41 PM

    It decribes the image of a killed rabbit by the cats. it implies and shows the bad and dark side of our society. The law of the jungle can be applied to our lives. We are living, competiting each other and the stronger win in the world.

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  4. karen-zhongNovember 3, 2009 at 12:57 AM

    The poet wrote this stanza is very significant in this poetry. It makes us notice the world is not only bright, but also dark; sometimes, dark side is more than bright side. We have to recognize the dark side of the world is beside us. Though this stanza, we can see the word “blood” “bones” “meat”, these words are undisguised, and it truthfully describes the real world in front of us.

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  5. AnonymousNovember 3, 2009 at 11:59 PM

    Respond to opinion of Karen-zhong

    Both dark and bright exist in the world, because darkness needs to show up how important brightness is, conversely, brightness needs to reveal how dark it is as well. They are not only opposite but also mutual depending.We recongnize darkness as well as brightness at the same time.

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  6. Benson O.oNovember 5, 2009 at 9:45 AM

    It's not only discribe two black cat killed the rabbit but also reflect the reality of our world. There is always killing and hurting happpening in our planet. "shred of meat
    still warm on bones" shows that we have the hurting everyday and every moment."blood drops in warm earth." indicate that our "warm" earth is not perfect as what we expect. Those lines point of lots of sad reality happening in our society

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  7. dtwelve89November 5, 2009 at 9:04 PM

    The stanza illustrates the gruesome reality of nature. As sad and graphic as it may be, that's just the way of life or as Joseph described it, "the way of the jungle." We must do what we can to survive, its nothing personal, its just the way it is.

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  8. raisinsklNovember 6, 2009 at 10:19 AM

    The stanza is a graphic representation of the violence that is a part of the animal world. The cats don't think the rabbit is cute. They are predators and the rabbit is prey. Like Dtwelve89 described it, "just the way of life it, the way of the ungle" Not only animal world are like this, it also reflects how human society is now. Today, in any work circumstance, one usualy act as predator who exploits other, he/she may be a winner now,tomorrow and day after tomorrow... he/she will eventually become who is exploited as the poet mentioned, "Shred of meat".

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  9. tee-teeNovember 6, 2009 at 12:45 PM

    This short story was the most rascist under handed sneaky all in one. to me it was talkin about black people and how we kill one another. In the begining it threw me for a loop.I didnt get untill I read on.This story could be perferring to cats.Precieved to me as blacks meanin black people.I could be wrong , but what did anybody else think?

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  10. wayneNovember 6, 2009 at 1:09 PM

    It implies the down side of the world. Those such as cheating, stealing, and fighting are surrounding us. But should we hide these from our children? I think it is the thing that we should tell our children, so they know the world is not that simple and beautiful, but complicated and dark also, and they can prepare for that. If don’t, when they grow up and see the other side of their ideal world, how can they face up to it and overcome the difficulty.

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  11. Daniel FreemanNovember 6, 2009 at 3:00 PM

    excellent interpretations, everyone. tee-tee may be on to something. examine how baca uses the word "black" in the poem.

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  12. Dev[PM]November 6, 2009 at 3:24 PM

    First of all, I want to apologize for not having been able to post earlier this week since I was swamped with a bunch of heavy assignments and a midterm.

    Without further ado, although my colleagues have mentioned that this particular stanza was seemingly a very gory representation of violence, to me, its message is a bit deeper than that. Superficially, it represents slaughter, regardless of whatever killed the rabbit.

    However, this would only answer the first two lines of the stanza. The last two lines are what convey a deeper message. I believe the author attempted to symbolize neglect of some form. If one takes account into the entire poem as a whole, one would see that the spotlight would belong to the artists and the cats. Personally, from the interpretation of the last two lines, the death of the rabbit is strikingly similar to a skirmish or battle. The message the author was elusively attempting to convey is the outcome of warfare, in which no victor emerges. Throughout the course of the poem, the atmosphere of bloodlust was eminent. Despite the fact the couple’s cat was killed, they should not have retaliated in the manner in which they did. By doing so, they were no better than the animals they judged in the first place.

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