An Analysis Of 'Gwendolyn Brooks Kitchenette Building'

In Gwendolyn Brooks’ kitchenette building, dreams are referred to as stinky onions that fight with fried potatoes. Brooks uses a metaphor of cooking potatoes to show the need for balance between dreams and daily tasks. This metaphor shows that it is okay to spice up life with dreams, just as the onions complement the flavor of the potatoes. However, too many onions will overpower the taste of the potatoes, which can be compared to life being overpowered by putting too much emphasis on following dreams. Through the metaphors in this poem, readers are urged to not let dreams take away precious time, which could be devoted to enhancing their day to day lives.
Dreams can become a stumbling block to everyday life, because their innocent appearance
After questioning the reader, the author gives an answer, “We wonder. But not well! not for a minute!” (11). This line shows the speaker in the work pondering upon the author’s question. After wondering about whether the dream is worth it, it is decided that it is not even worth it to waste time thinking about the dream. The dream is not even worth a minute of time that could be spent performing daily tasks or preparing plans for those of the future. In this case, the dream does not show enough potential to be profitable enough to sacrifice what is already in place for daily tasks. The speaker decides to not give the dream any more thought, not even for a minute, because the time would be better spent thinking about or doing other duties, wasting too much time may lead to setbacks in one’s daily
Brooks warns about the danger of wasting too much time on a silly dream; “Since Number Five is out of the bathroom now, / We think of lukewarm water, hope to get in it,” (12-13). This metaphor is relatable to most readers, since many have experienced a cold shower due to others showering before them. This can be applied to the message of not wasting too much time on dreams, instead of being proactive in pursuing the betterment of one’s daily life. The speaker of the poem wasted too much time on a dream, and now has to hope for lukewarm water when it comes to their life. The speaker is hoping they still have time to lead a successful life after wasting so much time. One must hope that too much time has not already been wasted when pursuing a