AN ANALYSIS OF The POEM BARBIE CHANG BY VICTORIA CHANG
The poem Barbie Chang is a reflective poem from Victoria Chang, where the writer examines the early life of Barbie a young lady of Asian origin who is struggling to find her place in the world and assert her role. The poem highlights the changes that are influencing this young lady’s ultimate path, with the first stanza examining Barbies’ relationship with her peers, and the Poet brings to light the introverted persona of Barbie. The writer asserts that Barbie has a different view and appreciation of life than her peers at school. The poem captures the theme of loneliness with the writer alluding that Barbie feels like the lone leaf of the last tree, this indicates the character feels she is different and not in need of validation from peers. The first stanza betrays the feeling of animosity barbie feels while underlying the emotion of hopelessness in the first line “hippopotamus of a hurt” is an opener indicating the character is carrying emotional wounds.
In the second stanza, the writer explores the underlying reasons for Barbie’s hurt from how Barbie relates to her mother, who is terminally ill. With the writer’s use of her name own name Chang, to indicate this piece is about her and how the author related with her mother, the writer portrays the mother as heartless with the character Barbie betraying her repressed feelings of love for her estranged mother. In the third stanza, the writer moves to society and examines the relationship of Barbie Chang with the community, we find that the community dislikes. The writer skillfully examines the plight of this young person trying to fit in a society where she is segregated. That death of her mother would offer relief.
The fourth stanza capture the character Barbie seeking to identify with a peer who is celebrated by others with this person looking down on Barbie, the offering first of hand which is frowned upon, brings out a feeling of being left out and segregated by the rest and eventually we see the Character Barbie moving to a different locality the Suburbans and aspiring to write for the New Yorker. An indicator of a premature self-actualization need. The rejected articles bring to light the feelings of the hopelessness of a talented writer who is trying to succeed against a world she feels is skewed against her favor. In writing this poem, the acclaimed writer uses an example of Barbie’s life to assure that it okay to be different and also to brings out the underlying theme that segregation is rampant in society. The writer is this piece successfully highlights the plight of many youngsters who are gifted and their struggle before they attain their goals and succeed in life. The progression indicates that life is a journey involving the self, family, society, but ultimately the person has to overcome all challenges to achieve their vision; the poem ends with an overriding note of suspended hope.
Barbies Chang is an exciting read in that the author poetically captures the daily struggles that young people grapple with when growing up. The author also uses a sequential flow in the stanzas while keeping the plot simple to enable a quick grasp of the poem. The author of Barbies Chang artist-fully uses the Poems title “Barbie Chang” to give a hint that the poem is about a young person who is changing. This poetry work is exciting and captivating to read while passing essential morals. The stanzas author delivers with the ease of an author who is confident and who’s work one can quickly identify. Finally, this is a poem that is enjoyed as a light read while it contains numerous stylistic devices that would attract future would-be poets and writers and scholars.
Sources:
Chang, Victoria. “Barbie Chang.” The American Poetry Review, vol. 45, no. 4, 2016, pp. 34–34, www.jstor.org/stable/44978618?read-now=1&seq=1. Accessed 2 May 2020.