Then I poked through the house, in each cranny and nook,But I found somebody each place that I looked.
These two lines reminded me of shadows in a house. This photo is from Frank Lloyd Wright's design of the the front hall windows at the Thomas P. Hardy House. The house itself is, "a complex and thoughtfully considered relationship with its surroundings."The shadows are apparent, but they also represent nothingness.
Nobody’s gone!
This line sounded ironic when I read it in my head and then out loud.
Nobody means a person of no importance, and gone means no longer present; departed. It almost sounds like an oxymoron. The feeling or presence of not being important is long gone. Thus, the last line is the turning point.
I woke up and Nobody just wasn’t there.I called out and reached for Nobody’s hand,In the darkness where Nobody usually stands.
This is the line where the role of the word, "nobody," means something different/is used differently. In previous lines, nobody was used literally, but now it seems like Nobody is the name of a person or thing.
It almost seems like Silverstein is using personification to show that the feeling of Nobody-ness is attributed to something or someone.
So, if you ask me who’s my best friend, in a whiz,I’ll stand up and tell you Nobody is.
The term nobody plays a huge role in this poem because it is used repeatedly in almost every line. According to Dictionary.com, nobody is defined as a person of no importance, influence, or power.
The use of repetition in this poem shows how one of the themes in this poem is mediocrity.
Nobody does all my homework at night.
This reminded me of grade school/middle school, where friends would help each other with their homework, or even go to one another's house(s) to study. This line in particular made me wonder if this narrator wants someone to actually do their homework, or just wants companionship while doing homework.
In this article, Laurie Futterman states there is a relevance of close friendships and a child's success in school. After reading this article, I felt like this line stressed the importance of not being alone, and having someone there for you physically.
Nobody loves me,Nobody cares,
Is this a feeling a person feels, or is this actually factual? These two lines reminded me of this article.
After reading this article, it made me realize that the "Nobody likes me," feeling doesn't only apply to adolescents but also as we grow older. The only difference is how we cope with this feeling, and whether we accept or try to sway another's perception of ourself.
I also found these two opening lines to be blunt and immediately drew me in. I wanted to continue reading more into this poem to find out the what's, why's, and how's of this feeling.
My parents crossed fingers so he’d never come back, lit novena candles so he would.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prIQhNbw1fc
I found these particular lines ironic. The practice of novena is due to prayers for someone who has died. This video shows a moment where a community has gathered in a church.
In my interpretation, it seems like the parents want to trick themselves into believing that they don't want their son back and consider him dead, yet lit novena candles. It might be that they don't crave about his physical new appearance, but want his soul to come back.
maíz
Maiz is also known as corn.
In these lines, maiz reminded me of this article. Besides feeding the slave girls corn, they reminded me of how pigs are treated and their lifestyle. Why did he feed them corn? Why did he feed them through the chain links?? Is there a correlation between the values and treatment of these girls and pigs?
effigies
Effigies are roughly made models of a particular person, made in order to be damaged or destroyed as a protest or expression of anger.
Attached is a photo of an effigy. After finding out the definition of this word and finding this image, I was able to envision the eeriness behind what an effigy is.
With this image in mind, it helped me get a sense of the relationship between the brother and parents.
My brother flung them into cenotes, dropped them from cliffs, punched holes into their skulls like useless jars or vases, broke them to pieces and fed them to gods ruling
I googled images of cenotes to get a feel for how they would look like, and realized that the images from my search were serene, peaceful, and destinations that were posted on Instagram.
But, in the context of this poem, the depth and beauty of the cenotes, shows how the brother was able to take his parents' love for him and toss it away. It seems like the brother is taking his parents for granted.
he lived in our basement and sacrificed my parents every morning.
Seemed contradicting (the opening lines vs. the title of the poem). The usage of, "he" sounds like the son is a complete stranger living in the basement of anyone but his parents' basement.
My parents watched from the window, crying over their house turned zoo, their son who was now a rusted cage
Rusted cage felt synonymous to son realizing that he feels like a prisoner in the house itself, even when he is around family.
Neighbors were amazed my parents’ hearts kept growing back—It said a lot about my parents, or parents’ hearts.
"It said a lot about my parents, or parents' hearts." There is a clear divide between actions and feelings.
Earth is eating trees, fence posts, Gutted cars, earth is calling in her little ones,
These two lines were contradicting. Usually it's cars and other environmentally unfriendly factors that are eating away at Earth.
Out of burlap sacks, out of bearing butter, Out of black bean and wet slate bread, Out of the acids of rage, the candor of tar, Out of creosote, gasoline, drive shafts, wooden dollies,
Repetition of "Out of..." Also creates mysterious and animal like environment intro to environment and setting