Analysis Of White Lies By Natasha Trethewey

I chose to write about the three elements of poetry: theme, character, and setting. Theme is a literary device and is defined as the central topic. I found two definitions for character and I decided to use both. Character was described as the mental/moral qualities that make up a person in a novel, play or movie. Setting is the time and place in which a story takes place. Settings in literature can real or fiction. In this case, it is a real setting.

I wanted to write about the poem, “White Lies.” The poem is by Natasha Trethewey. Trethewey was born on April 26, 1966 in Gulfport, Mississippi, which was considered the ‘black part’ of town. Her African American mother worked as a social worker, and her white father was a poet. Many people thought that she wrote “White Lies” to portray the problems she was confronted with daily as a biracial child in a separated community. She had to lie about her race just to fit in with the other children.

Race was a huge deal during the 1960s. Slavery was a prominent issue, even though it was illegal. Her parents were married illegally because of their race. Tretheway is biracial and lived in the ‘black part’ of town. Can you imagine what she went through? She attended a mixed school but racism was still present. “…Three of us in class.” Another theme is childhood. Trethewey was a child during this time and she just wanted to fit in with the other children. This can be seen at the line “I could act like my homemade…” Since she felt ‘different,’ she had many insecurities. An example of this is that she wanted soap to wash her from the inside out. This could mean many things, such as her pointing out her innocence and how young she