Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

"On the Beach" by Claribel Alegría is a poignant poem that delves into the themes of oppression, gender roles, and the transmission of historical knowledge to the younger generation. The poem uses the setting of a beach, a place typically associated with leisure and innocence, to tell a story that carries much deeper and darker implications.

The poem begins with a seemingly ordinary scene: an adult trying to comfort a child on the beach. The child, described with "a runny nose and her blue bathing trunks shedding sand," is a picture of childhood innocence and vulnerability. The adult's offer to tell a story as a means to stop the child's crying introduces the narrative that follows.

The story told to the child is about the practice of foot binding in China. This historical practice involved tightly binding the feet of young girls to prevent them from growing, a practice seen as a symbol of beauty and status. Alegría describes it vividly: "their feet imprisoned in bandages and the poor women could scarcely walk / their fingernails were left long more claws than fingernails and the poor women / could scarcely pick up a cup to drink their tea." The detailed description highlights the physical constraints and suffering caused by this practice.

The poem then shifts to a broader commentary on gender and oppression: "It's not that they were useless it's that their fathers their husbands their brothers / wanted them that way: a luxury object or a slave." This line is crucial as it connects the historical practice of foot binding to broader issues of gender-based oppression. It suggests that the control over women's bodies and their mobility was a way of maintaining them as objects or possessions, controlled and dominated by male relatives.

The closing lines, "That still happens all over the world / it's not their feet that are bound but their minds," is a powerful statement that extends the metaphor of foot binding to the mental and psychological restrictions placed on women. It implies that while the physical practice of foot binding may no longer be common, the underlying principle of controlling and limiting women persists in various forms around the world.

In "On the Beach," Claribel Alegría uses the simple act of storytelling to address complex issues of historical and contemporary gender oppression. The beach setting, juxtaposed with the seriousness of the story, creates a striking contrast that emphasizes the innocence of the child and the importance of educating the younger generation about these issues. The poem is a call to recognize and challenge the various ways in which women have been and continue to be restricted and oppressed, both physically and mentally. Alegría's narrative is a reminder of the enduring impact of historical practices on contemporary society and the importance of awareness and dialogue in overcoming these oppressive structures.