I Am Eleven

Even though we discussed this poem in class, I feel that it is worthy of more discussion. In this poem we find a troubled narrator who is torn between conflicting feelings for her father. I thought Sarir did an excellent job of bringing this issue to the forefront by highlighting the narrator's mixed emotions about her father's paintings. At first she hates the paintings, but then she goes on to say that she loves them. She compares the paintings to sorrowful (mother) and happy (siblings) times in her life to make these feelings clear. It is evident from the last two stanzas that the narrator is still a bit confused about her true feelings towards her father, but drawing from her conclusions it seems that she wants to follow in her father's greatness.