Analyzing The Poem 'Whatif' By Shel Silverstein

The poem “Whatif” by Shel Silverstein can be interpreted in many ways but is seen mainly as a children’s poem. Silverstein began writing as a child and slowly developed his own style. He started his career as a cartoonist and also a songwriter. Later, his friend urged him to begin writing children’s books. In this poem, Silverstein expresses his thoughts in a child-like way to reach out to the audience and talk about the whatif’s of life. This poem is a battle between a child and the late night thoughts that run through his head. The poem is written from a child’s point of view. It takes place at night while the child is laying in bed trying to go to sleep. Silverstein expresses his worries about life in a child-like manner through this poem. Silverstein grew up in a time where everything was not handed to you and you had more to worry about. After being rejected, at first, on what is now one of his best selling books, The Giving Tree, he had worrisome thoughts of not making it as a writer and never publishing his first book. …show more content…
Personification is used throughout the poem to bring the Whatif’s to life. Throughout the poem, imagery is also used to create vividness; “Whatif green hair grows on my chest?” (12). In the poem, the child is the protagonist, while the Whatif’s are the antagonists. The child feels as though he is not in control of his own mind. The child begins to think of all the possible bad things that could happen inside his life. Because of this, he does not get any sleep at night and the thoughts continue to come back again and