Analysis of poem Ta by Nora Naranjo-Morse
The poem Ta is about looking for ethical and moral values in the modern world. The Ta by the famous native American author Nora Naranjo-Morse can be translated as “Father”. The main character of the poem, a woman, asks her father about success, how it can be measured regarding keeping the balance between modern values and traditions of her people, “keeping on course, a balance of who I am and wish to become”. Father of the woman is holding over the answer and the woman starts worrying that he did not listen to her. But after a while he provides her with an answer:
It is going well,
Are happy.
My daughter,
You are a good woman,
Listen,
It is going well,
It goes in beauty (Naranjo-Morse, 2008, p. 279).
And the main character understands that there is something more important than searching for a balance, that such values as family and happiness are eternal and do not change with time. The searching for success is one of the most crucial factors for the personal development.
The main idea of the poem is to show that the most important value for a woman is r family. Only by creating supportive and warm relations among her relatives a woman can feel successful. It also reminds us that in our today’s fast-moving world people forget about this. They are usually in a hurry. That is the reason why the father of the main character waits for a long time to answer – he wants his daughter to feel that times did not change the eternal values, but everyone needs this time to understand this. The poem also highlights the importance of having children for a woman to be happy and successful. Modern society does not pay so much attention to this factor. Lucrative jobs and professional development become more and more important for women. Many of them decide not to have children at all because they can hinder or ruin their career. But the author’s statement is clear – without children a woman cannot feel the entire happiness and success. Without children the family – the most important value- is not complete. Furthermore, the poem highlights the importance of the relationship between older and younger generation. A woman comes to his father to ask for a piece of advice. This means that she trusts her father, that he is an authority for her and is one of the most important persons in her life. She believes in his wisdom and life experience. That is why she is so worrying when he does not answer at first. She feels offended, may be even betrayed by inattentive attitude of her father. But when he gives her an advice she feels happy and tranquilized. She understands the wisdom, which seems so obvious to her father (“simple words”).
The speaker of this poem is the author itself as well as her character – a hesitating woman looking for the support and understanding. Modern society dictates to all of us new norms, regulations and standards and it is so hard sometimes to find personal way. The poem is first of all addressed to women and girls. It is very feminine piece of literature, very intimate. But the audience of every poem is of course much wider. It is a message to the whole mankind: “Don’t waste your time looking for fake measurements and values! Family is something that sounds the most important for everyone on the Earth”.
The poem seems to be very real and natural – as trustworthy as a real dialogue between father and daughter. The reality of it is supported with words “Pueblo”, and a piece of the poem written in author’s mother tongue. By using these words the author wanted to highlight the importance of her people to herself and she wanted to show this importance to the reader. Nora Naranjo-Morse tried to create an image of home, which is individual for everyone. That is why she did not add any details, any description to the place where the dialogue takes place. She brilliantly succeeded in constructing of such image. The only detail used to depict the scene is Elm. In many cultures Elm is a symbol of wisdom, strength and eternity. It is a very string symbol, which leaves the reader confident in the author’s words.
As for the reader, the poem leaves a very meaningful and thoughtful impression. You found yourself thinking of who you are, and who you want to be as well the author of the poem itself. For the main character the answer is clear and the reader feels persuaded in the importance of family as the eternal value. But does keeping this value in mind makes your successful? The father, children and husband are very important for the author. And family is also very important for everyone. Family can be a very good measurement for success, especially for a woman, who is considered to be a keeper of the traditions. The decision of creating a family is that balance between modern values and traditions, which is searched by the author. The family is a bridge between the old and the new, because woman keeps traditions at home and transfers them to their children – the future generations. It is their responsibility either to prolong traditions or to cancel them and the task of a woman to persuade them to keep the traditions as the father of the main character keeps his wisdom. This task – growing up children in a way traditions are kept is a measure of success, is a measure of beauty described by the father.
Nora Naranjo-Morse creates a special rhythm by dividing verses in small pieces. It makes the reader to think over every single world of the poem and to feel how these words are filling the soul. This also shows the speed of the dialogue as well. Remember, the father takes his time to announce his wisdom.
The author uses different poetic devices to express her thoughts. One of them is metaphor – in the last lines she compared her father to an Elm by putting them together in a line. Ta seems to be so wise and old for her as the tree. Besides, Nora Naranjo-Morse used parallel constructions to highlight the importance of the family values (your children, your husband). She also uses epithets (wrinkled and halting).
People of the United States of America are living very fast and active life. They are considered to be one the most success-oriented nations in the world. Success is a key word for individuals of the US. Furthermore, it is individual achievement, which is measured and appraised, not the success of a community, of a team. But obviously, there is no person in the world, who can be successful in every single step, in every single moment. The only way to do it is to cheat. Stephen L. Carter in his book Integrity. Contributors writes about cheating as one of the biggest American problems (Carter, 1996, n.d.) The author itself recalls about his own childish experience related to cheating. He reveals that the Americans feel lack of integrity and therefore they cheat. Actually, most of the people have no idea what integrity is and how it should be incorporated in our lives.
In his book he writes about another issue of a successful person which were not mentioned by Naranjo-Morse in her poem Ta. The main idea of her piece of literature is to highlight the family values and their eternal importance. Even in the modern world with its speedy development it is important create a family and to maintain its well-being. Stephen Carter points out another problem, which is significant to modern generations of Americans, - the integrity and search of it. This is a great moral issue, because notion of integrity deals with such features as honesty, faith and obedience to rules. In this point, obedience to rules, another correlation with the poem can be found. For the main character of the Ta following the rules means keeping family traditions. And for Stephen L. Carter this means following traditions of Christianity, which is actually the major religion of Americans and therefore, it is also related to keeping in touch with family. So, the success for both authors is a moral, ethic issue, which can be achieved only by following special rules. Furthermore, both of these factors – finding and integrity and keeping family traditions is an element of wholeness, which is searched by both authors.
One of the most famous persons of the twentieth century Martin Luther King Jr wrote a brilliant letter in response to clergymen, who accused the protests to be “unwise and untimely”. It was April, 1963. It was a very important year for the black population of the United States. People left their work to express their protest against discrimination and racial segregation. And Martin L. King was the leader of that movement. He was imprisoned for this and spending days and nights in Birmingham Jail he wrote a letter to his opponents. This statement is considered to be one the best pieces in the modern rhetoric and is widely used as an example of persuasive writing. What made a Civil Rights activist to write with such passion? I think, first of all, his personal involvedness. And this feature unites this letter with the poem. Nora Naranjo-Morse is a representative of the Native Americans, and therefore for her following the family rules also means to be involved into traditions of her people. For King, who is a representative of the black population of the United States, involvedness is explained though the injustice and disrespect people were treated in the South. As a leader he wanted to protect his people and provide them with equal rights.
The moral problem King deals with in his letter is an issue of injustice. He points out that injustice in one place or case generates the injustice everywhere. For the author justice and truth are keys to success. Actually, by his non-violent protests he managed to prove this statement because finally he reached the point he was struggling for.
All the three pieces are united with the same theme – success and its price, ways to achieve it. For the authors success is an issue of morality. Immoral achievements cannot be evaluated, cannot be considered as success whatever it is about. For Naranjo-Morse success is in following family traditions, for S. Carter - in following rules of integrity and for M. L. King - in achieving justice. All of them have different statements but their main message is to remain moral and honest with oneself.
References
Carter, S. L. (1996). Integrity. Contributors. New York: Basic Books.
King, M. L. (1963). Letter from Birmingham Jail. Retrieved from: http://www.stanford.edu/group/King/frequentdocs/birmingham.pdf
Naranjo-Morse, N. (2008). Ta. In A. Lunsford, B. Ruszkiewich (Eds), Presence of others. Voices and Images that Call for Response (5th ed.) (pp. 278-280). Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s.
