Analysis of the Poem Move Essay - 704 Words

Lucille Cliftons poem Move deals specifically with an incident that occurred in Philadelphia on May 13, 1985. On that date, Mayor Wilson Goode, Philadelphias first African American mayor, authorized the use of lethal force against fellow African Americans living at 6221 Osage Avenue. In her introduction to the poem, Clifton says that there had been complaints from neighbors, who were also African American, concerning the Afrocentric back-to-nature group that called itself Move and had its headquarters at this address (35). The members of this group wore their hair in dreadlocks and they all used their surname of Africa. Cliftons poem suggests that it was these differences that cost the lives of eleven people, including†¦show more content†¦Before beginning the second stanza, there is the single word, move. This is undoubtedly the sentiment of the neighbors who would rather not be confronted with such frank diversity on their own doorsteps. It is also, as indicated by their name, the goal of the Afro-centric group, which gives the word an ironic twist, as the hostility of the neighbors is directed toward the same goal as the group called Move. The second stanza reads, he hesitated/then turned his smoky finger/ toward africa toward the house (lines 8-10). The he in this instance is Mayor Wilson Goode, a man who has a smoky finger, that is, a man of African descent. It is he that authorizes unjust and undue violence against a place where he might have lived, a place that he might have owned or saved had he not turned away (11-13). Clifton makes the point that in condemning the people who lived at 6221 Osage Avenue, Goode is essentially condemning Africa, a home that he might have chosen to call his own. In other words, rather than welcoming the Afro-centric attitudes of these people and embrace the heritage and diversity that they represent, Goode chose to reject them. They were his people to save and he chose to turn his back on them. Again, Clifton repeats the line move. The third stanza recounts the attack. The helicopter rising into the air, hesitating before turning toward the center of town. The studentShow MoreRelatedLiterary Analysis: The Rainy Day by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow1512 Words   |  7 PagesLiterary Analysis: The Rainy Day by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow - Siddiqui Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s â€Å"Rainy Day† uses the themes of lost and renewed hope, youth and grief to show how much our past and future experiences affect our lives and how though we face multiple struggles in life we can overcome them. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow was born February 28th, 1807 and died March 24th, 1882. He was inspired to write poetry from Romanticism. 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