Summary Of Julius Lester's Poem 'Parents'

Julius Lester’s poem, “Parents” reveals how quickly life can go wrong. A girl kills herself instead of her dog when forced to shoot it by her parents. This plot twist is similar to that in “That Room” by Tobias Wolff because people can’t plan everything and unexpected events will occur regardless of a person’s will. The article doesn’t hold this deeper meaning. However, Lester does and finds art in it. Art is perceived differently for every individual. Lester makes changes to the article to make his poem universal so it can be open to interpretation. For example, the poet removes any specifications of Linda’s identity and leaves a generalized young female character in her place. New York Times includes Linda’s middle name, age and the university she attended. Lester leaves out …show more content…
This is because a suicide is always traumatic and the father’s grief doesn’t change what happened. The purpose of the poem is for the audience to wonder about the parents, as “parents” is the only word he adds from the top of the article. It is titled “Parents” so that factor is the most important. Her parent’s extreme punishments molded Linda into making rash decision. The effects of her parents are seen when she sleeps with the Air Force Lieutenant. That is taboo and shameful in the eyes of the parents. Lester leaves out the fact that the lieutenant is married. Lester does this because the parent’s reactions already show that the act is punishable. Referring to the lieutenant as married is not necessary because the result is the same. The parents “decided on a punishment that would “wake Linda up” and the result was the extreme decision to have Linda kill her companion (Lester 5-6). Her parents have taught her that extremism is a normal way to deal with issues. By removing the specification of the family, Lester is able to facilitate the audience into creating their own views regarding the