James Berry

I wish my teacher’s eyes wouldn’t

go past me today. Wish he’d know

it’s okay to hug me when I kick

a goal. Wish I myself wouldn’t hold back when answer comes.

I’m no woodchopper now

like all ancestors.

I wish I could be educated

to the best of tune up, and earn

good money and not sink to lick

boots. I wish I could go on every

crisscross way of the globe

and no persons or powers or

hotel keepers would make it a waste.

I wish life wouldn’t spend me out

opposing. Wish same way creation

would have me stand it would have

me stretch, and hold high, my voice

Paul Robeson’s, my inside eye

a sun. Nobody wants to say

hello to nasty answers.

47

I wish torch throwers of night

would burn lights for decent times.

Wish plotters in pyjamas would pray

for themselves. Wish people wouldn’t

talk as if I dropped from Mars.

I wish only boys were scared

behind bravados, for I could suffer.

I could suffer a big big lot.

I wish nobody would want to earn

the terrible burden I can suffer.

Summary

The persona is a young black male who wishes for the things he should have been given because he is a human. He suffers great racial discrimination throughout his life, and this has affected him to the point where he withdraws into himself. He is not as bold as he should be. But he is aware of that he is different from his enslaved ancestors. Still, he feels still trapped by the prejudice he must face. He wants to travel the world and be educated, rather than having to do demeaning jobs to get by. He wishes to be like the revolutionary Paul Robeson. The boy remembers the stories of the Ku Klux Klan discriminating against and lynching black people like him. He hopes that no one else must bear this terrible burden he does.

Tone

Wistfulness,

Subdued optimism,

Restrained anger,

Sadness, and

Despair.

Atmosphere

Despair,

Sadness and

Deep suffering.

Analysis

“I wish my teacher’s eyes wouldn’t go past me today. Wish he’d know it’s okay to hug me when I kick a goal.”

The teacher ignores the boy because of his race. But the boy hopes that the teacher would acknowledge him today. He wishes for recognition when he succeeds.

“Wish I myself wouldn’t hold back when answer comes. I’m no woodchopper now like all ancestors.”

The persona feels voiceless as well as powerless and he does not answer the questions even when he knows the answers. This suggests that his confidence is low because of the constant moments of prejudice. He knows that it does not make sense for him to not be bold because he is free.

“I wish I could be educated to the best of tune up”

The boy wants to receive the best education. He uses the metaphor to compare education to ‘tune up.’ This is the same as having a car being “tuned up” or serviced for it to run smoothly.

.

“and earn good money and not sink to lick boots.”

This historical allusion is important because his forefathers have suffered through menial tasks that were comparable to licking boots. The persona does not want this for his future, and he wants to break the stereotype of that era where blacks were only meant for menial tasks. He thinks critically, and he hopes not to be demoted to being a

proverbial ‘hewer of wood and drawer of water,’ or spit shoe-shiner. He does not want to be compliant and submissive to get by.

“I wish I could go on every crisscross way of the globe and no persons or powers, or hotel keepers would make it a waste.”

He wishes to travel the globe without the restraints of discrimination.

“I wish life wouldn’t spend me out opposing.”

In this personification, ‘life’ is said to exhaust the boy. He does not want to live his whole life trying to win against discrimination and assault.

“Wish same way creation would have me stand it would have me stretch, and hold high, my voice Paul Robeson’s, my inside eye a sun.”

The persona uses personification here as an entity that controls his life. He wants ‘creation,’ in the way that it gives him the ability to deal with the prejudice he faces. He believes that this would give him the ability to develop internal strength and have the dignity that would allow him to move beyond societal limits and dictations. The persona dreams that he could have Paul Robeson’s voice as his own. He alludes to Paul Robeson, an African American icon known for his deep, distinctive voice and success as a star athlete singer, actor, lawyer, and human right activist. He wants his ‘inside eye’ to be a ‘sun,’ meaning that he wants his spirit and brilliance to be a light for others.

“Nobody wants to say hello to nasty answers.”

The line shows that the persona realizes that being an exceptional person is meaningless if people continue to be disgusted by him.

“I wish torch throwers of night would burn lights for decent times. Wish plotters in pyjamas would pray for themselves.”

The persona uses historical allusion in his reference to the Ku Klux Klan. History shows that this group of white supremacists lynched and tormented black people in the past. They did this under the disguise of religion. The persona highlights their hypocrisy, as they hurt others, instead of praying for their own salvation at night.

“Wish people wouldn’t talk as if I dropped from Mars.”

The persona wishes that people would choose not to highlight his differences so that he feels as if he does not belong on this planet. He feels ostracized, as though he does not have the same permission to live in society or like he was born on Mars. While the line contains a very simple analysis, one could go further to explain that this not a physical desire to be on a physical plain but instead the line would suggest that the persona wishes that he would be recognized as an individual with a voice. He wishes that people would listen to what he has to say and not pretend that his opinions and views were not valid.

“I wish only boys were scared behind bravados, for I could suffer. I could suffer a big big lot. I wish nobody would want to earn the terrible burden I can suffer.”

The persona wishes that only children were scared behind the pretenses of bravery. Yet he understands that even adults pretend to be brave at times. But because adults are also afraid, he finds that these adults cannot offer the protection he needs as he faces prejudice in society. He believes that adults cannot oppose the prejudices. ‘Suffer’ is repeated three times in this final stanza for emphasis and for allowing the readers to become even mor3e sympathetic towards the persona. He is a black boy and blacks are often synonymous with being hardships, fear, and suffering. He hopes that no one else will have to suffer through what he must suffer through because of the colour of their skin. *’Wish’ is repeated constantly in the poem to reinforce the persona’s mood of longing.

Literary Devices

Repetition:

The repetition ‘I wish’ points to a longing or the desperation for the basic needs of life. The repetition gives credibility to the belief that the persona believe that his wishes are dreams and that these dreams might not become a reality.

Allusion:

Lines 6 and 7, historical allusion. The speaker alludes to slavery and the lack of control over one’s own life and destiny. There is reference to the persona’s feelings about his life and his lack of control over his life.

Lines 19 to 20 alludes to Paul Robeson. The persona wants to be like Robeson who is a black successful scholar.

Lines 22 to 25 alludes to the Klu Klux Klan and their burning of the crosses and wearing their white outfits.

TONE

Sadness

MOOD

Sad

THEMES

Racism,

survival,

oppression,

desire/dreams.

childhood experiences