An Anthem | Themes

An Anthem Themes

Courage to Protest

In the repetition of the words, “give me courage so I can spread / it over my face and mouth,” Sanchez asserts the speaker’s plea, almost as a prayer, for courage to face seemingly overwhelming obstacles. She wants to wash in this courage and drink it. The speaker needs to acquire courage, and she is eager to wear it on her face and to speak it with her mouth. An important point about courage is that it is not the absence of fear, but the willingness to do something despite the fear. That is the speaker’s position: She is not brimming with her own courage; she is afraid. She asks for courage in order to carry on with what she is committed to do: wage and protest against injustice and suffering

In the third line, the speaker identifies what intimidates: “madmen goosestep[ping] in tune to Guernica.” The reference here...
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