In the poem "Hanging Fire," written by Audre Lorde, the use of a free verse rhyme scheme and a simple, three stanza pattern promote the use of multiple figurative language examples throughout the poem. The application of figurative language helps the reader to comprehend the struggles that accompany adolescence. The poem begins with the narrator, a fourteen year old girl, that appears to be put out with herself. In line two of the first stanza, she says, "and my skin has betrayed me." This use of personification demonstrates how the narrator feels uncomfortable in her own skin. By providing something, such as skin, human like characteristics that does not previously possess them, the author is able to dramatize the emotional effect the young girl is feeling from her skin. Further on in the same stanza in lines five and six, the narrator questions her appearance once more by saying, "how come my knees are always so ashy." This use of imagery allows the reader to connect with the young girl on a deeper level with a more valuable vision of her appearance. In lines eight and nine, the narrator questions how long she will live. This question proposes the confusion of life that is troubling the girl. The last two lines of the first stanza begin the first segment of a repetition later seen throughout the poem. The statement made by the girl, "and momma's in the bedroom with the door closed," also serves as another use of imagery. The reader is now able to visualize this young, fourteen year old girl who is self-conscious and is seeking her mother's attention. .
Stanza two begins with the same young girl complaining about dancing, parties, and her room. These common feminine adolescent thoughts are followed with lines fifteen and sixteen saying "suppose I die before graduation they will sing sad melodies." The remark made in stanza one questioning when she will die has now been repeated in new wording.
When looked up in the dictionary, the word identity refers to the distinguishing character or personality of an individual that is marked by psychological, social, and cultural factors. That being said, the quest towards finding identity and fully understanding who you are as a person, is never an e...
