Komuyakaa's Expression of Self in Facing It
In the poem "Facing It" by Yusef Komunyakaa, the author uses first person narration, metaphor, simile, images of light and darkness, personification, allusion and word connotation in order to convey to his detached audience the intimate experience of making his pilgrimage to the Vietnam War Veteran's Memorial in Washington DC. For Komunyakaa, an African American Writer and Vietnam Veteran, the emotions associated with the memorial are complex, sad, disheartening, and cherished. Through the use of these various literary devices, Komunyakaa is not only able to share his experience with his audience, but to draw the audience into the narrative of the poem, and place the realities of war inside the lives and hearts of his audience.
On the surface, Yusef Komuyakaa's "Facing It" is the first-person account of Komunyakaa's own pilgrimage to the Vietnam Memorial. Komunyakaa uses a first person narrator, because this is certainly his story, and as such he does not wish to detach himself from the narrative. Also, the first person narration makes the story more vivid and real for the audience by pulling us closer to the story through intimacy with the narrator. Through the use of the "I" the audience is able to identify with, and relate to the emotions that the narrator of the poem·that is, Komunyakka·experiences.
We immediately understand that the narrator is faced, most likely for the first time, with the names of his comrades who had fallen in battle. This emotion is best conveyed through the use of the first person narration·that ir, the "I"·within the poem. By placing himself within the poem, Komunyakaa has, in effect, placed his audience within the poem as well.
The image of Komunyakaa's face "hiding inside the black granite" is significant as well. It is as if he feels as though he should be inside the wall with all of the other men that he once knew. This thought permeates ...