The poem "Facing It" by Yusef Kumunyakaa is about a Vietnam War veteran. In this poem he goes to visit the memorial, and he seems to go often. While there he seems to struggle with the idea that he is there. Meaning he's a part of it yet he is not. He states "I'm stone. I'm flesh." Which could mean he realizes he's alive but he feels like his name should be there. Possibly he doesn't think he deserved to live when so many others died. He pays special attention to Andrew Johnson, probably someone he knew during the war, and judging by the flashback, saw die. Also I feel this sentence "half-expecting to find my own in letters like smoke" reinforces what I feel. It's as if a large part of him did in fact die in Vietnam.
Also "I'm stone. I'm flesh" could be interpreted another way. If you look at the sentence before it where it says:
" I said I wouldn't, dammit: No tears. I'm stone. I'm flesh."
By "stone" he could mean that he is strong and powerful. He can take whatever life throws at him and whatever it takes away. He didn't want to succumb to those emotions. He wanted to be strong for himself and those he fought with.
I like your interpretation of "I'm stone. I'm flesh." I also got the feeling that he felt like he belonged on the memorial. Which is why I thought he was so dead throughout the poem. However instead of seeing "stone" as strength, I saw it as lifeless and without spirit.
ReplyDeleteI also think that the speaker identifies with the memorial wall. He is stone and his face is black just like the wall. I also believe there is a lot of emotion he feels, a lot of pain, trying to refrain from crying ("no tears")and he wishes to be impenetrable like the stone and not be taken over by emotion. I wonder if he regrets being alive and thinks that he should belong on the wall, his name engraved in stone along with the others.
ReplyDeleteGood observations about that image--the stone/flesh duality sets up the deep ambiguity in tone we can read throughout the poem's imagery (esp. the closing image), and in the way images contrast, undercut, conflict with each other--consider the "fash"--brushstrokes--a (red) bird's wing-- the whiteness of an explosion, a woman brushing (brushstrokes) a child's hair...
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