Theme Of Violence In Lamar Jorden's Shooter

“To Speak of the Woe that is marriage” and “ Shooter” are both intense poems that express the horrific nature of violence endured by innocent people. Robert Lowell uses the dark and intimate experiences common to confessional movement poetry in “ To speak of the woe that is marriage” to address the fear and hostility endured by a woman married to an abusive husband. On the other hand, Lamar Jorden’s “Shooter” from the slam poetry movement, explicitly addresses the violence in society and mainly the violence that has bled through into schools with the evidence of mass school shootings. Both poems, although from two different poetry movements, address both sides of the same coin. Lowell with the victims experience, and Jorden’s view thorough the eyes of the abuser. The cycle of violence demonstrated by both of these poems can be compared on the premises of their perspectives and use of metaphors.

The poem “Shooter” …show more content…
The wife describes her husband as “Free-lancing out along the razor’s edge” (5) She compares her husbands mental state to the stability of someone on a razors edge. This shows the behavior of her husband as insane or psychotic.Similarly, Jorden uses metaphors to express the damage caused by the cycle of violence. One line states “ Today’s Valentines day homie I wanna be Cupid/Slugs replace arrows”(48-49) Jordan metaphorically compares his shooter persona to that of Cupid and replaces the arrows with shotgun shells. This metaphor compares an innocent holiday to a graphic and negative object. The use of metaphors to further develop the anti-violence views in “Shooter” are very effective.While Lowell uses metaphors to express the feelings of a victim of violence, Jordan uses metaphors to express the actions of the