Valediction

Outline

Sherman Alexie’s Valediction is a poem featured in the book Best American Poetry as edited by David Lehman and Kevin Young in 2011. The following work involves the analysis of the poem and a discussion on the various poetic tools employed annexed alongside an opinion on the suitability of the work for inclusion in the syllabus. In view of the entire article’s structure, an introduction ushering in the content appears in the beginning, followed up by a brief highlight of Sherman Alexie’s works and career. The main discussion contemplates on the poem Valediction, giving a detailed opinion on various poetic perspectives before the conclusion. Literature consultation regarding the author and the poem facilitates the development of the opinion and backs up the thesis statement established at the end of the introduction.

The title Valediction generates the idea of some troubled setting for the poem, which facilitates a quick generation of the theme of the poem. From the basic definition of the term valediction, it is possible to depict the central message of the poem with some form of trouble expected. Bidding farewell entails a certain level of painful departure and detachment of persons and upon reading the title, it emerges that the author generates such a sorrowful theme in the poem. The poet presents the central theme using a brief and a simplified format with the choice of words particularly standing out clearly in the eight double-lined verses. The approach adopted by the poet in the design of the poem augurs well with the theme of a tragic ending of the life of the main character, making precision and accuracy important. Without the combination of precision and simplicity, the appearance of the poem as a strong presentation of the central theme of struggle would be difficult.

Sherman Alexie is among the most seasoned of American contemporary artists with a wide spectrum of artistic genres including film, novel, short story, screenwriting, and poetry. Having a wide range of artistic occupations, Sherman was able to rise as an award winning literary icon through early 1900s to date, amassing several awards in the process. Born in 1966 with hydrocephalus, a condition where there is excessive secretion of brain fluid in the cranial cavity, Alexie underwent a life threatening surgery, which he survived. A difficult childhood coping with the condition coupled to bullying and teasing by other children did not intimidate him to rise to academic excellence witnessed as early as by the age of twelve. He had an exemplary life at school and his gradual recovery gave him the courage to take up several roles as a student leader in various disciplines including debate and sports.

Alexie’s professional orientation manifests itself with a special bias on hopelessness and poverty among the marginalized communities in the United States, particularly among the Native American population (Johansen 7). Perhaps the central theme in the poem Valediction falls within the best range of issues that his traditional orientation captures. With regard to the sadness in a majority of the collection of his works, certain factors of presentation must come out clearly including precision, simplicity, and accuracy. In line with a passionate motivation from personal life experiences, Alexie captures the theme of suffering and helplessness in a unique way than many authors would. The perspective of suffering, taken by someone who is in terms with life encounter with sadness, enables the author to present an interesting point of view on the subject matter than many other writers. In the poem, owning up the theme from the introductory line “I know, I Know, I know, I Know, I know…” shows a deep conviction of the understanding of the victim’s predicament, to an extent of retiring on any hope of changing the mind of victim (Lehman and Young 2- verse 1). The fact that the poem is a piece targeting to pass a farewell message illustrates the author as a concerned person, probably after coming to terms with the predicaments of the victim. As outlined above, the author employs two important artistic features that facilitate the presentation of the poem as a complete piece against the choice of its size and design.

Firstly, the precision adopted in the poem manifests through the economy of words, without compromising on the delivery of the central theme. In a weighty theme as suicide and other psychological difficulties experienced by the main character, it would perhaps tempt to apply several words to the poem. However, the author employs precision techniques that augur well with the poem leaving no loopholes, as the initial intention would need. As briefly mentioned above, from the poem’s title, Valediction, the image of sad episodes quickly captures the prediction of the central theme. Valediction is a word with a Latin origin depicting parting ways, particularly in a mourning scenario. Despite the fact that a direct cause for the farewell does not immediately emerge from the title of the poem, the essence of the suspense is established. Without precision and accuracy, the author’s few words would not have captured the central theme surrounding the suicide committed by the victim, despite all indications pointing to the advice of holding on since bigger problems linger around but not sufficient to result to killing oneself.

Following the other works by the author, the orientation of his career against a backdrop of sad topics enables to make a prediction of a tragic setting. To capture similarity of sad moments, perhaps from his life encounters, the author spares the audience wordy descriptions by reckoning, “…dark times are just like those dark times…my sad acquaintance, each dark time is…” (Lehman and Young 2- verse 2). To capture hopelessness, the author uses simple expressions such as, “…indistinguishable from the other dark times, yesterday is as relentless as tomorrow.” It emerges that the sadness cycle is not about to end with the occurrence of the particular event captured in the dedicated valediction. Despair that dominates the author’s choice of topics clearly develops from such presentation with astounding precision.

Additionally, simplicity depicted by the author’s choice of words augurs well with the setting and entire presentation. With regard to the author’s bias towards sad pieces, the approach of avoiding controversy in interpretation of words used pays off. The description of the victim’s state of mind precipitating the suicide adopts a reminder of Chekhov’s perspective in order to avoid controversy. By stating that, “…Chekhov wrote that. He meant it as comfort, and I mean it as comfort, too…” illustrates the level of simplicity that the author adopts in presenting the poem. Apart from the clarity with which the ideas project in the poem, the author keeps the vocabulary of the poem at its minimum best.

It is clear that the author intends to pass a message to the victim who finds myopic solace in suicide. Despite the fact that the victim had all reasons to believe in the words of Chekhov, the author employs irony since the words of caution contained in the poem appear late after the suicide. Speaking to the diseased regarding observing a word of caution delivered long after their last breath is also humorous but simple in expression of the main message. By relating to the past difficulties as the author remembers, the theme of suffering projects itself and the author uses that to offer a rare point of warning to suffering persons. In recognition of the weight of the difficulty that the victim could have experience, the repetition of “I know” presents the author as an empathetic party (Lehman and Young 2- verse 1). Desperation leading suicide victims to the vice gets criticism from the author as he adds his voice to Chekhov’s words that “…yours is not the worst of sorrows,” perhaps giving an account of personal suffering to prevent suicidal thoughts (Lehman and Young 2- verse 4). Desperation observed in sad moments around the author’s life however persist in the poem in that he strongly believes that the victim was destined to commit suicide even if the words of the poem were available beforehand. To illustrate this, the author uses the line, “…you killed yourself because your last dark time was the worst…none of my verse could have saved your life,” (Lehman and Young 2- verse 6-7).

In view of the suitability of this poem, it fits highly for recommendation for inclusion on Eng 102 reading list. At a time when several psychological challenges face the young people in the United States and around the developed world, literature should support their decision making regarding personal ability to withstand devastation. Lessons learnt from the highlight of the author’s background illustrate how contemporary devastation can stand in the way of the uninformed mind. Opening up the young minds to the fact of presence of the best advice to avoid negative thoughts would empower the youth to believe that their problems are just not the worst around. Suicide cases continue to offer a headache to families and the apparent reason must be associated with lack of a passionate speaker having past tribulations with similar challenges. In light of the need for education to offer practical solutions to contemporary challenges, it would be appropriate for Eng 102 to highlight the suicide challenge and offer a different perspective as the author does.

In conclusion, the role of modern literature in dealing with contemporary challenges cannot be overemphasized as Alexie demonstrates in his poem. A simplified presentation as prepared by Alexie captures a rare glimpse at a poor suicide victim overwhelmed by thoughts of inadequacy, which would apparently subside with appropriate information (Mathews para.3). The most dominant concept in the poem against the backdrop of the author’s biography is the practicality of one’s life experiences to withstand sad moments. By giving an authoritative lecture to the diseased, the author directs his advice to potential suicide victims to weather away negative thoughts.

Works Cited

Johansen, Bruce. Native Americans today: a biographical dictionary, Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood Press, 2010, Print

Lehman, David. & Young, Kevin. The best American poetry 2011, New York, NY: Scribner Poetry, 2012, Print

Mathews, William. “Valediction- Sherman Alexie,” 2012, Web. (19 June 2012) http://blog.passiontask.com/entry/bap12-2-valediction-sherman-alexie/