In class, we discussed how we are more apt to attach someone’s sexuality to their identity if they are outside of the “norm” of heterosexual society. We probably wouldn’t think to ask Liu how his sexuality affected his writing if he was a heterosexual man. I feel that we’re only interested in that aspect because it doesn’t fit our heterosexual, patriarchal society. After reading the Q & A, I was able to see that Liu, especially in The Quilt, writes about his experiences just like any other writer would. His homosexuality influences his experiences just like race, religion, gender, etc. would influence anyone else’s writing. While reading Liu’s poems, I was able to see how much heterocentrism influences my interpretations. I felt that Liu’s poems stand in direct defiance of this assumption, showing that there isn’t a “universal norm by which everyone’s experience can be understood” (Tyson 320-21). Whether we think homosexuality is moral or not, there is no denying that Liu’s sexuality influences his poetry.
In The Quilt, Liu shows us that everyone experiences “life and death together” no matter what their sexuality: “The men who die and die in each other’s arms, leaving us their names”, “Each day the quilt spreads out more rapidly, covering the earth’s four corners”, “Who can sleep tonight when beds are soaked with sweat, when bodies are being sponged away”, “consider death without judgement”. My first reading of the poem was difficult because I am definitely influenced by the heterosexual “norm” of society. A reread of the poem, aided by the extra information provided below, helped me to understand this poem better through Liu’s view. I liked how he separated the words in line 5 and 6. The first line, “the men who die” seems to be a separate thought, emphasizing that the individuals dying aren’t just gay men but they are men, human beings. Their sexuality should not deem whether their suffering warrants sympathy and sorrow. They at least deserve a “death without judgement”. Lines 12-15 again emphasize that AIDS is afflicting people worldwide, not just homosexual individuals. The ending was confusing for me but I felt that he was saying that they will go on “loving, embracing” whether they are accepted by the heterosexual community or not.
After reading this chapter and Liu's poems, I also realized how my default understanding of things is a form of heterocentrism. I'm learning more and more each day how there really is no "universal norm" and I liked how Liu's poems proved that false.
ReplyDeleteI also noticed the separation of the phrases "the men who die / and die in each other's arms." The division of the thought really hit me that everyone is a person and deserves to be treated humanely.
The zig-zaggyish lines of "The Quilt" looked to me like sewn stitches that are used to make a quilt. The stitches on the quilt that Liu talks about are also the stitches that connect all human beings to one another based on one thing we all have in common - we are all human.
Progression
ReplyDeleteI also got a lot out of the Quilt poem and the message that I felt was trying to be portrayed falls close behind those of Ashley's and Michelle's. I also feel that the formation of the lines and the way the breaks are used are a huge contributor for the overall meaning of the poem and each reader who interprets the message from it. When I re-read it a couple of times, the lines that really jumped out from the page (or screen of my computer) were lines 8, 21, 25, 26, 34, and 35.
In line 8 "Together, we begin to see" the effectiveness of this phrase and how it is set off depicts (at least to me) that not only does he want to refer to those infected with AIDS, but together, we (should, must, can) see--together, not as separate people. As well as the word beginning, because it is a process in which we should engage in. Then line 21 "the cost? When desire" I was intrigued by "the cost?" especially the question mark posed at the end of it leading right into desire...is this the cost of the desire? Is is worth it?...
Lines 25 & 26 "down the river, consider" "death without judgment" I love the emphasis on consider--to reflect, ponder, strip away bias. There should be no divisions like Michelle said. And correlation with what I said about begin, "down" does the same thing for me; it relates a process in which to follow in terms of letting us by swept down the river (of new beginnings) and not fight against it, but work with it.
In 34 and 34 "has not changed, but we will" "go on loving, embracing." When reviewing these lines I was struck with the "but we will" at first I thought it meant the we as meaning people with AIDS as a separate group, but then thinking about where this poem is probably relating to trying to overlook that heterocentrism, it might be in hopes that there will be no they, them, but in a whole "we." Another one of those progressive words for me is in line 34 with "go." Indicating the action that must be taken to "go" on in that movement of acceptance.
Sorry quite a bit of jumbled thoughts I hope it makes sense.
One thing I noticed about "The Quilt" that correlates with both Ashley and Michelle's comments is the emphasis that when we die, all that is left it a name. Toward the beginning, it talks about lovers that "die in each other's arms / leaving us their names". I can think of only two pieces of information that a name can give about the person it belongs to. One, a heritage, and two, a gender (and these days even that isn't completely reliable). A simple name doesn't confirm personalities, ideas, beliefs, or sexuality. I think Liu is trying to convey that in the end it doesn't matter who you're attracted to, because all that will be left is a name, so why should it matter now?
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