SUMMARY

Stanza 1

The poet’s parents sought to protect him from the street children. They were rude in speech and were dressed in rags. They were uninhibited and stripped off their clothes and swam in the country rivers.

Stanza 2

The speaker feared the brute strength of the boys. They were muscular and did not hesitate to use their arms and legs. The poet was also scared of their mocking ways. They laughed behind his back, imitating his lisp.

Stanza 3

The boys were like vandals; they threw mud at people and pounced on them. But despite all this, the speaker was forgiving. He wanted to be friendly and smiled at them. But they did not reciprocate the friendly overtures

ANALYSIS

This poem could be a personal or biographical depiction of Spender’s early life suffering the disability of a club foot and a speech impediment. The use of the first person, stark contrasts, and ambiguity give us a vivid picture of a child troubled by a superiority/inferiority complex. While his parents are condescending towards the rough coarse children, the child appears envious of their carefree liberty, their unbridled animal prowess and uninhibited playfulness, yet resentful of their bullying behaviour to him. We can visualise the persona through contrast. He is everything that they are not; softly spoken (words like stones), well dressed (torn clothes, rags), passive (they ran and climbed), inhibited – modesty (they stripped by country streams), weak (muscles of iron), well mannered (salt coarse pointing) lisp (parodied by copying), clumsy (lithe), and friendly ( hostile- they never smiled). His attempts at conciliation and acceptance are rebuffed but he appears to blame his parents for psychologically damaging him by over protection or shielding him from a natural childhood. While their superior attitude (snobbery?) has excluded him from mainstream society he ambivalently identifies with his parents by having the boys spring “like dogs to bark at our world”

“My Parents” As a Criticism on Society: This poem is written from the perspective of a young child. The child’s parents restrict him and keep him away from the rough children, fearing they will make fun of him. The poet presents a graphic picture of the street children, which justifies the stance of his parents. They are rough in their manners and appearances. However, the speaker is envious of their freedom. He adores the way they play freely in the street without any restrictions. Also, he praises their iron muscle, which shows that he is physically weak as compared to them. Therefore, his parents never allow him to take part in an activity that invites hatred and bullying. Thus, the poem highlights an inevitable gap that exists among different classes of societies. The parents want to safeguard their son from the negativity, and the speaker wants to liberate himself from the clutches of restrictions.

Major Themes in “My Parents”: Bullying, the gap between social classes and parent’s love are the major themes of the poem. The poet presents two things in the poem: parents concern for their child, and the child’s wish for freedom. His parents never permit him to mingle with the street boys, and they have reasons for that. But, the poet thinks that his freedom is snatched in the name of protection. Therefore he tries to give those street children a positive gesture, forgetting their bad behavior with him, but they never respond to him positively.

LITERARY DEVICES

1. Alliteration: Alliteration is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line such as the sound of /c/ in “And climbed cliffs and stripped by the country streams”.

2. Imagery: Imagery is used to make readers perceive things involving their five senses. For example, “Who threw words like stones and wore torn clothes”; “Their jerking hands and their knees tight on my arms” and “Their thighs showed through rags they ran in the street.”

3. Enjambment: It is defined as a thought or clause that does not come to an end at a line break and is continued in the next line. For example, “Their thighs showed through rags they ran in the street" and "And climbed cliffs and stripped by the country streams.”

4. Hyperbole: Hyperbole is a device used to exaggerate a statement for the sake of emphasis. For example, “I feared more than tigers their muscles like iron.” This statement shows how greatly he fears them.

5. Simile: It is a figure of speech used to compare something with something else to make the meanings clear. There is one simile used in the fourth line, “I feared more than tigers their muscles like iron”. He compares their muscles with iron.