Mr T–
Even the smallest element can help to create meaning in a poem, like Hayes's use of the dash here. Why does he use a dash instead of the common period after the name? Is the speaker in the poem addressing Mr. T so the dash makes the poem seem like he's writing a letter? Or is it something else?
She wanted a little room for thinking
This reminds me of Virginia Woolf's great essay "A Room of One's Owen"--that women need a space to call their own in order to be ourselves/to become ourselves. A room wasn't often provided like this in previous time periods.
Bent double, like old beggars under sacks, Knock-kneed, coughing like hags, we cursed through sludge,
Notice the use of alliteration and consonance--what kind of sound does it create? A marching sound. Why would Owen want you to sense that marching?
Persimmons
This is a key metaphor for the entire poem. On the surface level, it's because it's considered to be a Chinese apple (a fruit common to China) and this is a poem about what it's like to be from a family of immigrants, but could we go deeper if we consider the parts of a persimmon--what it's like externally vs. what it's like internally? And how is all of that comparable to his experience?
The first person point of view creates intimacy with the reader--and it's interesting that here in the first paragraph, the narrator has intimacy with the reader, but Sonny, his brother, named in the paper, feels distant from the narrator.
Blues I
Why the blues? It's interesting that it's possessive for Sonny-- as if the blues isn't a music for the narrator, only for Sonny.
At the tea stall Mr. and Mrs. Das bickered about who should take Tina tothe toilet. Eventually Mrs. Das relented when Mr. Das pointed out thathe had given the girl her bath the night before. In the rearview mirrorMr. Kapasi watched as Mrs. Das emerged slowly from his bulky whiteAmbassador,
It's so strange to watch a couple fight in front of you. It's as if you're an accidental voyeur. What difference does this make to the character of Mr. Kapasi. And it's interesting that all the characters are referred to by their formal address (Mr., Mrs.), signaling that marriage is going to be important to the story.
Lieutenant
His rank obviously matters--why?
The first person point of view creates intimacy with the reader--and it's interesting that here in the first paragraph, the narrator has intimacy with the reader, but Sonny, his brother, named in the paper, feels distant from the narrator.
Blues I
Why the blues? It's interesting that it's possessive for Sonny-- as if the blues isn't a music for the narrator, only for Sonny.