Analysis Of To Judge Faolain Dead Long Enough

In McCarriston’s poem “To Judge Faolain, Dead Long Enough: A Summons,” the narrator— who by the emotion in the poem appears to be the daughter of the abused woman—now orders and recalling the original scene in the judge’s courtroom. This is indicative of the fact that the narrator is speaking to the judge in the past tense about her mother, as she began the poem with “Your Honor, when my mother stood / before you…” (1, 2). I believe the narrator is female because of how she startlingly interrupts her own narration with an emotional response to the injustice done to her mother, “no, not “someone,” / but a woman there, snagged / with her babies, by them” (12-14). The narrator’s emotion regarding her mother’s injuries is also within the descriptions of her abuse, particularly the mentioning of her face being “pancake” and “her heart / the bursting heart of someone snagged” (7, 10-11). …show more content…
I believe the narrator interrupted her narration to correct the judge’s jaded, coldly professional misunderstanding of her mother who once stood before him, for she is not just another defendant, but her mother, and a victim of domestic abuse that should not be ignored. The narrator describes this abuse as her mother endured it for weeks, healing and waiting for a response from the routine