Jamie Hauke

English 101

15 February 2016

Philips

Paper 1

To be in love is a magical experience; at least, that is the general consensus. Being in love is almost overly-romanticized in society. Yet, as much as the processes of falling in love and being in love are discussed and over-shared, no one likes to talk about what happens after a relationship ends. It is neither pretty nor fun, but when it happens, there is no avoiding it. Such is the case in the poem "You Were You" by Sandra Beasley. In the poem, Beasley uses many different literary devices to allude to a larger meaning. Ultimately, Beasley uses personification, repetition, imagery, and point of view to convey the theme of helplessness.

To demonstrate how helpless the narrator feels, Beasley uses personification. At the beginning of the poem, the narrator is having a dream that seems rather pleasant. But, it quickly changes pace as the reality of her relationship sets in. She now has to watch her former lover hold another in his arms. The narrator is devastated, knowing there is nothing she can do to win him back. The poem states, "I was the jukebox./ I played Sam Cooke for you." The idea of being an inanimate object immediately gives a sense of the lack of control. A computer, nor a jukebox, can tell someone how it feels, or what it thinks. By comparing herself to an inanimate object, there is a direct connection to the feeling of helplessness that the narrator is displaying. Farther on in the poem the narrator also says, "my mouth was plastic ... I glittered like 1972." Continuing with the personification of the jukebox, the narrator is using this description almost as if to say that she feels ugly in comparison to the new girl that her ex is with. The narrator also states that "I weighed 300 pounds," which, for a piece of machinery would be normal. But the narrator feels this weight as if it is all attached to her own body, and there is nothing she can do about it. She feels gaudy, out-of-date, and fat, and she has no control over it. The personification of the jukebox helps the narrator express how helpless she feels knowing that her ex has moved on, because he could be with anyone and she is convinced whoever he is with is skinnier and prettier than she will ever be. Also, whoever her ex is with now is brand new, and the state of awe has yet to dissipate, making that person seem impossibly perfect.

The author also uses repetition to explain how helpless the narrator feels. Repetition is the action of repeating something that has already been said or written. The narrator, in consequential sentences states, "I wanted to dance. I wanted a scotch. I wanted you to take your hand off of her." The narrator keeps repeating "I want" as a way of showing that she has no control. She cannot get a drink, she cannot even dance, let alone could she prevent her ex from moving on from their relationship with someone new. The poem also states, "I played Sam Cooke for you," and later, "I played Aretha, Marvin, the Reverend Al." The narrator is most likely referencing her ex's favorite musicians. In stating all of these the narrator is conveying that she has tried everything to win back her beloved. And she now does not know what to do; if his favorite music could not keep him on the dance floor, what would? And, alternately, if she had tried everything to fix their relationship but her ex still would not stay, nothing could get him to stay. At that point, it is out of the narrator's hands. No one can make a person do something they do not want to do. Throughout the poem, the narrator also continues with the idea that she "was the jukebox," and played music continuously throughout the dream. The jukebox is supplying background music for the actions taking place in the dream. By comparing herself to the jukebox, the narrator is saying that she is in the background of her ex's life. Bur while she watches him live happily without her, he is still the center of her life. Without him, she is merely a background character in the lives of others because she is unable to live without her ex.

Another important literary device Beasley uses to convey the idea that the narrator is helpless is the use of imagery. Imagery is significant because it paints a mental picture for the reader to coincide with the words on the page and really bring the story to life. One example of vivid imagery is, "You were wearing your best smile/ and the shirt that makes your eyes green." This statement holds a lot of meaning. Most importantly, it shows that the narrator and the subject have an intricate history. Not only can she recognize what kind of smile her ex is wearing, but she also remembers specific pieces of clothing and how they accentuated his facial features. Although this does not contribute to the idea of helplessness, it is important because it shows the reader that the narrator really knew this person, and had a deep history with them; which gives context as to why she feels so helpless now that he is no longer a part of her life. Another important example of the use of imagery is, "I'd have to you/ her hair looked like plastic./ But then, my mouth was plastic." In saying this, the narrator is saying that she thinks the new girl is fake; but her opinion does not matter because it is insignificant to her ex. Her opinion no longer matters to him, even if she was just trying to be honest. At the end of the poem, the narrator also says, "You kissed her all the way out the door ... The bubbles in my blood were singing." These lines paint the rather gruesome picture of how the narrator felt when the man she loved left her. He was happy with someone else, and although she tried to live her life without him, she just cannot seem to move on from this man. She feels broken without him.

Finally, the author uses different points of view to demonstrate the idea of helplessness. In the poem, both the 1st person and 2nd person point of view are used. For example, the narrator states, "I was" and "I played" and "I wanted" repeatedly throughout the poem. In doing so, she is demonstrating that she has tried everything possible. Yet despite her efforts and desires, she could not get her ex to stay. But what is most interesting, is how she references her ex throughout the poem. Instead of using 3rd person, she always used 2nd person to reference the man she is still in love with. For example, "You were you" and "You were wearing your best smile" and "I wanted you to take your hand off of her." The use of the second person makes this piece much more personal. It is not just a casual retelling of a dream, but a terrible vision of the narrator's worst nightmare coming true. The use of the 2nd person perspective gives the impression that the narrator wants to say these things to her ex directly, but cannot. Because she cannot express her feelings to the person she wants to, she has no choice but to put them in this manner and hope that he will eventually see it.

In the poem "You Were You" by Sandra Beasley, the author uses the literary devices of personification, repetition, imagery, and point of view to convey the idea that the narrator feels helpless. She personified an inanimate object to show the lack of control she had in the situation. The repeated phrases and words to display how, despite her best efforts, she could not get things to swing in her favor. Imagery was used to paint a picture of the desperation the narrator felt in not being able to live now that her lover has left her. Finally, Beasley used the 1st person and 2nd person points of view to demonstrate the narrator's last ditch effort to get her ex to see what he has done to her by leaving. All of these literary devices help construct the vivid, yet sad image of how a person feels when a relationship ends.
