Question

Read the excerpt below and answer the question.

The first tick-tockings of my small heart
still alive in the chimney fittings
and in the crannies of the old bricks
and there still visible on the door and walls
is that look of shame,
my mother’s look at my father
and my grandfather

A choked voice murmured
“It’s a girl”
The midwife trembled
unsure of her birthing fee
and goodbye to the circumcision feast

In at least one hundred words, discuss the tone of this excerpt from “Birthplace,” and explain its significance in terms of the poem’s cultural context. What poetic devices help to convey this tone?

Answer 1

The tone of this excerpt is fear, disappointment, and uncertainty. Taherah Saffazadeh, the poet, is Iranian and the fear and disappointment that accompany having a girl for a baby stems from the society's poor treatment of women and celebration of men. Detailed description of action and emotion help convey these themes, the word choice associated with the announcement that she was a girl. The mother's "look of shame", the "choked voice" telling them it's a girl, the midwife trembling, these details are what create the mood and reinforce how somber everything around the birth became. The tone of uncertainty comes from the feeling that no one in the room quite knows what to do next or how to react properly.