Family Secrets And The Whipping Poem

In poems, “Family Secrets”, and “The Whipping”, the tone is very unsettling. Both of these poems have a really deep story. The tone shows so much emotion that it almost makes one uncomfortable or feel pity. An example of this “I mean, she found me, sure, but who’s the one that told me go and play out in that goddamned field in the first place?” (Ceci, 6-8) The author does this to show the reader that this “boy” does not believe what others do about his sister, he is releasing something about her. In the Whipping you also feel a strong tone of sorrow, “She strikes and strikes the shrilly circling boy till the stick breaks.” (Hayden, 9-10) The impact on the word “breaks” is huge because it tells the reader how hard she was actually whipping him that in result the …show more content…
The tone has to do with the purpose of each poem also, like in family secrets “Now, though; forty-eight years old and now i'll tell you: No. It’s nothing makes you glad to be alive.” (Ceci, 15-16) Ceci is focusing on making us understand or question what he means by saying that nothing makes you glad to be alive. While reading “The Whipping”, “Wildly he crashed through elephant ears, pleads in dusty zinnias, while she in spite of crippling fat pursues and corners him.” (Hayden, 5-8) one can feel the strong emotion and hurting from this women cornering the boy. The word “cornering” does the justice for this sentence, it makes one feel choked up, or trapped. The excitement in both “Family Secrets”, and “The Whipping” come from the shifts that are both located in the last sentence. These shifts shock the reader and expose them to a different perspective from the writer. In the poem “Family Secrets” Ceci shocks us with evidence towards the boys claim about his sister not being “Always the good one.” (Ceci, 6) with the last sentence