The Intersection Between History and the Self

Trethewey analyzes the intersection between history and the self in order to better understand how both forces shape and influence one’s sense of identity.

The structure of the book presents the concepts of the self and history as two separate entities by devoting the first two sections of the collection to each of these topics separately. In doing so, the reader is given a strong foundational understanding of each of these entities. For example, in the section one most of the poems focus on the speaker attempting to navigate the emotional trauma of dealing with her mother’s untimely death. This functions to present the speaker first as an individual independent from any specific historical context. Section two of the book does the opposite, seemingly ignoring the individuality of the speaker and instead focusing primarily on the history of...