Grandmother Essay

691 Words3 Pages
Berries, Roots In the poem “Grandmother”, by Douglas Nepinak, the poet discusses the loneliness and struggle of a woman who does not know English which creates a barrier in communicating with her family. The change I had to overcome was difficult but it had to be conquered; moving to a new house, which meant having to wake up earlier than I needed to get to school in time. Change can at times be hard for people to live with and eventually overcome. People often fear change in their lives because they have a sense of control and comfort; a sort of safety net on which they can rely on. Change comes with certain adjustments, and everyone deals with these adjustments differently; therefore, ultimately, the poet suggests that if these adjustments are not met with reality at the right time, it can be costly to everyone involved. In Nepinak’s poem, he describes the grandmother as an old fashioned woman living in the modern day world. The unfamiliarity of her surroundings causes her to constantly live her life within her dreams. The words “berries” and “roots” create an image of the nature she was once surrounded in and suggests her longing to be back in that environment. She takes comfort in the nostalgia of her past, which in turn becomes detrimental to her abilities to cope with the present, and ultimately the future. The structure of the poem reveals Nepinak’s concentration on the grandmothers’ priorities. He capitalizes the word Anishinabe, which she speaks in her dreams, while leaving everything else in lower case letters. This proves the importance of her culture, and further exemplifies what is most important to her. She is uninterested in learning English and feels she is not obligated to, she instead expects her grandchildren to learn Anishinabe. This demonstrates stubbornness within people when they do not invite change into their lives. Stubbornness can hurt
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