Comparing a Poem and a Short Story

Growing Up

A Quest for Knowledge and Answers with Plenty of Lessons Learned

The two works of literature to be examined here are the short story "The Stolen Party" by Liliana Heker and the poem "Hanging Fire" by Audre Lorde. These pieces detail the struggles, fears, successes and implacable worries of childhood. In them, one sees reflected one's own childhood, as the pieces are quite innocent and straightforward in their description. The most important theme, present through both stories, is the pervasiveness of those questions that are so reflective of growing and learning. This essay will examine some of these important childhood wonderments, and will discuss them below.

The events of childhood always seem of the utmost importance as they take place. Whether they are happy, sad, embarrassing or otherwise, these events, above all, teach. Sometimes it is true that they are important, but otherwise one might even forget them, though the lessons learned are never forgotten. These stories deal with the emotions of childhood that ultimately shape an individual, and detail the two children's thoughts as they undergo various events and emotions. The poem, for instance, is much more based on emotions than the story. The latter piece focuses on events and characters rather than detailing thought processes, though the latter take place as well in a minimal role.

The poem is about a fourteen-year-old boy who has questions, fears and regrets. Above all, he wonders about his own life, his own successes and failures, and insecurities. The poem, surprisingly, is quite mature in tone. The boy speaks through the narrator as if he is much older, reflecting upon his childhood. In fact, the persona seems to be on the outside, looking in. The poem starts with: "I am fourteen/and my skin has betrayed me/the boy I cannot live without/still sucks his thumb/in secret…" This particular reference to the 'I,' especially at such a young age, is what makes the tone of the poem so serious.

Yet there is also a certain innocence, found especially in the last two lines of every stanza as the boy regretfully states "…and momma's in the bedroom/with the door closed." The outside-looking-in feeling throughout the poem is reversed because of these last two lines of every stanza, in which the boy reminds the reader that he is speaking and he is only a boy who is afraid of being alone. In this context, the rest of the poem falls together as the puzzle pieces of the boy's reflection are seen to be simply insecurities that ought to be assuaged by an absent mother. This, then, is a lesson that the boy may learn -- specifically, that a parent can be absent -- which would be a negative outcome. Alternatively, he may also learn the necessity of having a person with whom one can talk about one's fears and insecurities. Whichever it will be, the boy certainly self-examines in a very good way, and, the reader believes, though harsh, may be able to learn from himself quite a lot, despite the absence of his mother.

The second story to be examined here also focuses on the experience of a child, but this story is quite different. First, it is narrated from a third-person omniscient point-of-view. Thus, the story is a bit less personal than the poem. Though the girl in the story still has thoughts of insecurity and fright, she seems to be a much happier child, and also seems to be much more independent than the character in the poem. It is evident, however, from the presentation of this story and the inclusion of other characters present, that the girl is not alone in her ordeals in life. In fact, her mother, despite being a bit harsh herself and exposing her own insecurities, tries to comfort her own daughter in many ways and keep her from being harmed by the harsh realities of the world in which she lives.