Ethnicity - By: Anna Petrescu

Using metaphors, imagery, rhymes and irony, the poet has managed to tell the turbulent story of her Daddy, whom she has immortalized, and she loved to hate. The poet explores the joy, pains and challenges that her father had undergone, and it is through the tale of her Daddy that she exposes the ills that had plagued the human race by that time, which includes racial discrimination, genocide, and slavery among others. Thus, as the poet narrates her tribulations, she vividly captures what’s in her mind through the eye of her Daddy, whom she addresses candidly voicing her concern on what is happening around her and in her life. Hence her observation, “the vampire who said he was you.”
A Nazi supporter
It is evident from the poem that, the poet is disgusted by her father’s decision of becoming a Nazi proponent. In the sixth and seventh stanzas, the poet depicts her father as a Nazi. Her father involvement with Nazism is exposed where the poet laments “So I never could tell where you, Put your foot, your root,” signifying, she never understood why her father had to discard his Jewish identity. More so, another point that indicates that his father was a staunch factor as Nazi is where she points that “I never could talk to you. The tongue stuck in my jaw.” The fact that, her father had changed status, made him to exude Nazi brutality, he had to hate the Jews as did the Nazist and the poets cry “ Brute heart of a brute like you” perhaps indicates, he never treated her with any dignity as her daughter, she treated her like a Jew. Equally, on the same note, it is evident from the poets decimal physical description of her father “And your neat mustache” betrays his involvement with Nazists. Using imagery and metaphors such a “boot”, she indicates her father was a Nazi and more profoundly exposes this, where she says “I thought every German was you.” Likewise, she compared her father to Hitler who was a Nazi himself where she eludes "your neat mustache and your Aryan eye, bright blue. Panzer-man"
Jewish roots.
It is apparent that, the poet lived during the early days of Nazi German, this is due to the fact that, she has craftily spoken of politics and religion as depicted by the phrase “Not God but a swastika”. Too, to establish her argument that she was a Jew, she has cleverly talked of “My Polack friend”, perhaps whom she once lived with, as she has indicated “In the German tongue, in the Polish town”. More so, her Jewish status is further reinforced by the fact that, she calls her father a Pollack and says she is the Jew “I began to talk like a Jew. I think I may well be a Jew"
Hence, she could not have been different from her father. Also, she has mentioned “Meinkampf” which was linked to Jewish concentration camps in Dachau, Auschwitz, and Belsen
True love
As she has depicted “And the villagers never liked you” meaning, no one ever loved or trusted her father, distrust was rampant among her neighbors and perhaps lived in suspension. But the poet has candidly, shown that despite the fact that her father was a Nazi sympathizer, she remained his daughter and more so, loved him and she has principally exposed “In the waters off beautiful Nauset. I used to pray to recover you”, Perhaps from the shackles of Nazism. Hence, her usage of such strong metaphors as “shoes” as well as “feet” denotes herself as a foot that lived in the shoe, hence, it is apparent the shoe was her father, meaning, the shoe acts as a protective cover for the foot, thus she felt her father had an obligation of protecting her. Equally, she has also vividly portrayed her love to his father as seen in the poem where she alludes “You stand at the blackboard, daddy, In the picture I have of you”. Thus, it is apparent that, no matter the status of her father, she never hated him; rather her love towards him increased and she adored him more. Hence her stance “And then I knew what to do. It is apparent, her love towards her father could not have been compromised, and she loved him unconditionally, and this prompted her to marry a man who had almost similar traits to her father, hence her word “I a made model of you”
Conclusion
The poet depicts the life of blackmail, the title of the poem, though symbolic could also mean that, the phrase Daddy was intentionally employed to depicts, the poets ethnicity, this is due to the fact that, in animal kingdom, a male carries the power to defend and subdue the enemies, more so, a male figure depicts authority. The use of literally elements has significantly aided in presenting the raw image as is depicted by the poet, ethnicity is important but lethal, hence, the cry “Daddy, daddy, you bastard, I'm through”, perhaps depicts the pains the poet had to undergo knowing her Jewish father was a turncoat living among the enemies of his people (Wamali 52). All in all, the poet has managed to present a conflicting but captivating daughter-father relationship in times of turmoil. From a social approach, the poet candidly paints a picture of a daughter who was ready to sacrifice her life if it meant protecting her father. In the poem, the poet demonstrates her passionate sensations towards the relationship she had with her late father (Wamali 52).

About the Author

The author Anna Petrescu has academic writing experience of over 5 years. She holds a PHD in education from Cambridge. She has been assisting students in writing professional academic papers including thesis, dissertations, research papers and term papers. bestessayscenter.com

Article Directory Source: http://www.articlerich.com/profile/Anna-Petrescu/79798

Additional Articles From - Home | Reference & education | College