Use of Narration in the Poem, 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

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h it can be construed as one. Rather, the audience assumes that his audience is familiar with the memorial itself, and as such, is familiar with the white etchings of soldiers into the black stone. The images are ghostly and serve as a haunting backdrop to the thousands of names. Here, a soldier's eyes "look through" the narrators own. The narrator becomes "a window" to the rest of the world, or perhaps the fallen soldier can see through him, and understand the emotions that are extant in his heart. Furthermore, the author personifies inanimate objects in order to give them an element of humanity, and not allow his audience to forget that the names do belong to the thousands of young men who gave their lives for their country for no reason other than that they were asked to do so. The line "My clouded reflection eyes me," places humanity into the rock, which proves to be interesting, because just two lines earlier, the narratnr has said "I'm stone," attributing the qualities of stone�rigidity, coldness, and flatness�to himself, and the qualities he possesses�those of humanity, and life�to the stone. It is apparent that he knows that his name could just as easily be on the list of fallen men, and perhaps that he wishes it were.

Category: Literature - U