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The Vietnam Veteran Memorial and Yusef Komunyakaa’s “Facing It”

Yusef Komunyakaa, the author of "Facing It" served in the Army. He wrote this poem, almost a decade after the Vietnam War. The Vietnam War took place for a very long time in the United States. Komanyakaa's "Facing It" is regarded as an examination of the effects of war on people, especially the Vietnam War. Since Komanyakaa was part of the war, it is easy to conclude that his experiences from the war inspired him to write the poem. The construction of Vietnam also said to influence the writing of the poem "Facing it" by Komanyakaa. This essay, therefore, analyses the significance of the Vietnam Veteran Memorial to Yusef Komnyakaa's "Facing it".

The speaker of the poem tells his story in the first person perspective. He has gone to visit the 'Vietnam Veterans Memorial', which in turn spurs a series of flashbacks of the war. The setting is in the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and the memorial has been vividly described to the audience. The visual representation of the memorial provides the persona with an opportunity to think about his past, his present, and his future.

It is worth noting that the language used in "Facing it' is simple and easy to follow. It is somehow informal, such that the audience can easily relate to the persona. The persona speaks simply and openly as if he is having a conversation with a friend. The language does not follow the rules of grammar and the writer, in fact, uses slang such as "dammit!" in his poem. The poem also consists majorly of two to three-word sentences, without order, which makes it look like the speaker was having random thoughts. In addition, the poem has no rhymes in the poem that makes it look lyrical. These are aspects of ordinary conversations between people. The speaker's inability to focus on one thing and instead, rambling and hopping from one thought to another is important as this makes the audience feel like they are part of the persona's experiences.

A close examination of the title of the poem leaves its audience with suspense as the audience is left asking themselves "facing what?" The title is a broad concept that leaves its readers to explore their imaginations. Upon analysis, on a literal level, one would say that the title "facing it" is about someone looking at the memorial. Since the speaker is at the memorial, one would simply assume that he is facing the memorial. However, metaphorically, the "facing" would mean the speaker needs to "face" his past experiences of the war and struggle to preserve his composure.

The poem opens with "My black face fades/hiding inside the black granite/ I said I wouldn't/dammit: No tears/ I'm stone. I'm flesh" (Lines 1-5). Here, the speaker seems to be confused and facing an identity crisis. His face is as black as the granite wall. Despite being as tough as the granite, he is also weak and human. He knows that he is bound to cry, because he is also made flesh, and faces emotions (Marvin, 2003).

The speaker then goes ahead to explain his "clouded reflection" (line 6), where he recalls the happenings of the past. His past seems to haunt him "like a bird of prey" (line 7). The comparison with the bird of prey shows the gravity of past happenings and how they continue to affect his present life. He says, "... profile of night/ slanted against morning" (line 8). It suggests the divided self of the speaker, who is torn between the experiences of the Vietnam war and his present moment. Even as he emerges into a new day, the events of the war still hover around him.

The speaker then looks the other way to the memorial, and through the light, skims through the names in the memorial. He says, "I go down the 58,022 names, /half-expecting to find my own in letters like smoke (Line 14-16)"Through these lines, the audience can see the depth and magnitude of the war. The number 58,022 shows that many lives were lost in the war. He expects his name to be there and that it would be engraved like "smoke". Smoke, unlike the memorial, which was immovable, was able to vanish easily (Marvin, 2003). The memorial, on the other hand, would always be there, with people's names engraved on it, as it reminded people of those who died during the war. The reference to smoke makes the audience understand how lucky the speaker feels for having narrowly escaped the war and now glad for having survived.

The speaker comes across a name. He says "I touch the name Andrew Johnson;/I see the booby trap's white flash," (lines 17-18). The speaker seems to remember the Andrew Johnson from war. These names do not remind him of the loss that came with war. Instead, they remind him of the memories he shared with them. The speaker realizes what despite their memories, they did not share their ultimate end because his name was not encrypted in the memorial.

The speaker also notices that "Names shimmer on a woman's blouse/ but when she walks away/ the names stay on the wall" (lines 19-22). The speaker seems to be having difficulties comprehending how one would approach the memorial and walk away like nothing happened. It was almost as if the memorial had no impact on the woman, whatsoever. The speaker, on the other hand, saw the names at the memorial and they reminded him of his experiences. They changed him forever, and could not understand why other people could not feel the impacts of the war (Marvin,2003). The speaker concludes that despite the consequences of the war, people had various ways of coping with the aftermath. He realized that other people, despite having been affected by the war, were still able to live a normal life and undertake normal tasks.

The speaker then flashbacks by describing "Brushstrokes flash, a red bird's/wings cutting across my stare. /The sky. A plane in the sky." (Lines 23-25)The speaker clearly remembers what happened in the war. He remembers seeing warplanes in the sky; he then sees "A white vet's image floats/closer to me, then his pale eyes/look through mine. I'm a window." (Lines 26-30) The way that the vet looks at him makes him doubt his existence. He wonders whether he is an apparition, a ghost, or just alive. By referring to himself as a ‘window", it means that his perceptions of himself have become lessened after visiting the memorial. Instead of being flesh and stone as he had earlier mentioned, the speaker now viewed himself as a window, through which the white veteran was able to look at the wall. The veteran does not seemingly see the persona of the play, but it is clear that he has also had his share of experiences in the Vietnam war as he peers into the wall.

At the end of the poem, the act of erasing names is juxtaposed with that of a woman brushing a boy's hair. It says, "In the black mirror /a woman's trying to erase names/ No, she's brushing a boy's hair" (lines 31-33)

These lines leave the audience wondering who the woman could be. The audience wonders it is the wife of a soldier with her son that come to visit the memorial, or a mother remembering the good times they shared with his dead son in his childhood. The last line of the poem gives hope to humanity. It gives them the idea of love that would sustain the future generations, even if it does not necessarily prevent war from erupting.

Unlike at the beginning of the poem when the persona seemed harsh and full of contempt, he seems to have changed his mind at the end of the novel. It has become a turning point for him. The speaker now understands the complexity of human emotions and reactions, especially in difficult phases and historical events. The speaker realizes that the woman's act of brushing the boy's hair is simply a depiction of motherly tenderness

Through the poem, the author explicitly explores the theme of conflict with regards to racism and the role it has played in shaping the American history. At the beginning of the poem, the speaker says "Black Face Fades". Clearly, he intends to reveal to his writers that he is an African- American. Later, in describing the white veteran, he says, "his pale eyes/look through mine" (line 27-28). The use of a white veteran implies that the persona, having visited the memorial, has begun to understand that the war did not just affect the African-Americans, but the whites as well.

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial is situated in the nation's capital. It is built in a V-shaped manner and measures about 400 feet long. It has more than 58,000 names encrypted on the walls to honor of the veterans that lost their lives in the Vietnam War (Chapman & Ciment, 2015). The speaker of the poem has described the Vietnam Veteran Memorial vividly. In this regard, therefore, the conception of the Veteran Memorial has become very successful in enhancing public awareness and maintaining historical happenings.

Despite this poem being relevant to the people of America and others that were affected by the war, it symbolizes all the experiences that people undergo after a war. The poem "Facing It" is a brutal narration of what war does to people. The speaker, however, desires that people understand him, but wants them to move on. He simply wants people to understand that the past may never be erased because the memories shall always be stuck with us.

References

Chapman, R., & Ciment, J. (2015). Culture wars: An encyclopedia of issues, viewpoints, and voices. Routledge.

Komunyakaa, Yusef. "'Facing it'." (2000): 102-102.

Marvin, T. F. (2003). Komunyakaa's Facing It. The Explicator, 61(4), 242-245.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.

Komunyakaa's Facing It Marvin, Thomas F The Explicator; Summer 2003; 61, 4; ProQuest Research Library pg. 242

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.

Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.

Vietnam Veterans Memorial From "Culture Wars: An Encyclopedia of Issues, Viewpoints, and Voices"

Located on the Washington Mall in the nation’s capital, the Vietnam Veterans Memorial is a V-shaped, black granite wall, measuring 400 feet (122 meters) long, inscribed with the names of the more than 58,000 veterans who lost their lives in the Vietnam War, listed in the chronological order in which they died. Designed by Maya Lin, who at the time was an architectural student at Yale University, the $8 million, privately financed monument was dedicated on November 13, 1982. The most visited memorial in Washington, D.C., the site was baptized by fire in the culture wars.

The memorial was the inspiration of Jan Scruggs, who had served in the war as a rifleman. He envisioned a memorial that listed by name every military person who died in the conflict, spanning the years 1957 to 1975. Eventually, a total of 650,000 individuals made monetary donations for the project. On July 1, 1980, President Jimmy Carter approved the allocation of two acres (0.81 hectares) on Constitution Gardens (located between the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial) for the National Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

Although the idea for the memorial was widely favored, the unveiling of Lin’s design led to acrimonious debate. Opponents argued that it reflected an attitude of shame toward the war. The design called for the wall to be set into an embankment, and critics argued that it should be built above ground, not below. They also contended that the color should be white, not black. Moreover, the austere monument was said to lack patriotic ambience. Those in favor of Lin’s design—many of whom preferred a nonpolitical memorial, so as not to honor war—said that it reflected the nobility of sacrifice.

The praised the “extreme dignity and restraint” of Lin’s vision, but industrialist and later presidential candidateNew York Times H. Ross Perot, who donated $160,000 for the design competition, regarded the winning entry as a disgrace. Novelist Tom Wolfe denounced the design as “a tribute to Jane Fonda” and the committee that approved it the “Mullahs of Modernism.” The conservative magazine declared it “Orwellian glop” and called on the Reagan administration to halt the project.National Review Others described it as “a black gash of shame.”

James Watt, the secretary of the Department of Interior, resisted issuing a groundbreaking permit and did so only after demanding that an American flag and statue be added. In another compromise, two brief inscriptions, a prologue and epilogue, were added to the wall of names. After a three-day prayer vigil at the National Cathedral in which the names of all the war dead were read, the memorial was officially dedicated in a ceremony attended by more than 150,000 people.

The flag, on a sixty-foot (18.3-meter) staff, was added in 1983, and Frederick Hart’s bronze sculpture of three American soldiers was installed the following year; both were placed to the side of the wall, rather than in front of it, as Watt had desired. After years of more debate, a sculpture honoring women veterans was added in 1993. A plaque was placed in the plaza area in 2004, stating, “We honor and remember their sacrifice.” In 2006, an underground visitor center was approved, but some veterans denounced it as a reminder of Viet Cong tunnels. For most visitors over the years, however, the power of walking along the wall, finding the name of a loved one inscribed on the surface, and reaching out to touch it has triumphed over the design dispute.

Designer Maya Lin stands alongside the Vietnam Veterans Memorial shortly after its dedication in 1982. The innovative original design met with resistance, and several elements were added. (James P. Blair/National Geographic/Getty

Images),

See also: ; ; ; ; ; ; American Civil Religion Anti-Intellectualism Fonda, Jane National Review Perot, H. Ross September 11 Memorial ; ; ; ; .Vietnam Veterans Against the War Vietnam War Watt, James Wolfe, Tom World War II Memorial

Further Reading

Scruggs, Jan C., and . . New York: , 1985. Swerdlow, Joel L. To Heal a Nation: The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Harper and Row

ROGER CHAPMAN

© 2010 by M.E. Sharpe, Inc.

Persistent URL to this entry: http://www.credoreference.com/entry/sharpecw/vietnam_veterans_memorial

APA . (2010). In . Retrieved fromVietnam Veterans Memorial Culture Wars: An Encyclopedia of Issues, Viewpoints, and Voices

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MLA " ." . Armonk: M.E. Sharpe, 2010. Vietnam Veterans Memorial Culture Wars: An Encyclopedia of Issues, Viewpoints, and Voices

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Annotated Bibliography

Chapman, Roger, and James Ciment. Culture Wars: An Encyclopedia of Issues,

Viewpoints and Voices. Hoboken: Taylor and Francis, 2015.

Chapman and Ciment come back to the history of the Vietnam War by perceiving the proximity of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial arranged at the Washington Mall. The memorial is a similitude of more than 58,000 veterans who passed on in the midst of the Vietnam War. Regardless of the way that the recognition was inspired by Jan Schruggs, the point was to make sentiments and viewpoints about war and its shame and furthermore issues of decency of relinquish and administrative issues. Although there have been few artistic criticisms about the memorial, the real power to mold the debate about culture and the views linked with it has been built into the memorial. I would use this source to know more concerning this historical warfare and the likeness of such recorded minutes through recognitions.

Marvin, Thomas F. "Komunyakaa's Facing It." The Explicator, vol. 61, no.4 (2003): 242-245.

Thomas Marvin's investigation of Komunyakaa's poem "Confronting It" make the reader facing the same experience of the veteran fighter inside Vietnam’s war. Marvin solves Komunyakaa's emotions like those of wounded and aged man who saw every moment in the war and how he tries regaining the recollections through the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. The way of the commemorative wall that represented is aimed for bringing the recollections of the dead and living in a focal place. In the investigation, Marvin figures out how the writer utilizes allegorical discourse, items, and images to draw out the past, the present, and the outlook. Understanding the poem gives an insight into feelings of fighters who experienced or were affected by war. I would use the source for understand of the poem a knowing the emotion of the memorial.

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