Terrance Hayes has written a series of sonnets all titled “American Sonnet for My Past and Future Assassin.” Each poem is completely different, but all contain critiques of racial injustice in the US. Hayes centers his sonnets around two questions: Who is the assassin? and What is an American sonnet? In “American Sonnet for My Past and Future Assassin[I lock you in an American sonnet that is part prison],” the answer to the first question is the white hierarchy and shows the complex relationship Hayes feels towards them. Hayes uses imagery of physical structures and birds to represent the racial oppression while using juxtaposition and repetition to challenge white America.
The physical structures of confinement are images of the oppressive power structure, and birds represent the vulnerability of African Americans. The opening lines of the poem trap the reader in, just like society has trapped African Americans: “I lock you in an American sonnet that is part prison,/Part panic closet, a little room in a house set aflame (Hayes 1-2) .” All of the places of confinement impose a feeling of fear. This was …show more content…
The questions that drive this sonnet are the motive behind Hayes’ social commentary. In“American Sonnet for My Past and Future Assassin” white America is revealed as the assassin. As noted by writers and historians, slavery is America’s original sin that we continue to grapple with. Hayes’ sonnet serves as a powerful social commentary on racial injustice in America. His poem suggests that if we can empathize with the oppressed, and white America recognizes themselves as oppressors, there may be hope for the
The physical structures of confinement are images of the oppressive power structure, and birds represent the vulnerability of African Americans. The opening lines of the poem trap the reader in, just like society has trapped African Americans: “I lock you in an American sonnet that is part prison,/Part panic closet, a little room in a house set aflame (Hayes 1-2) .” All of the places of confinement impose a feeling of fear. This was …show more content…
The questions that drive this sonnet are the motive behind Hayes’ social commentary. In“American Sonnet for My Past and Future Assassin” white America is revealed as the assassin. As noted by writers and historians, slavery is America’s original sin that we continue to grapple with. Hayes’ sonnet serves as a powerful social commentary on racial injustice in America. His poem suggests that if we can empathize with the oppressed, and white America recognizes themselves as oppressors, there may be hope for the