Poem Analysis

The poem is telling about someone who finds herself different and becomes vulnerable as she is
isolated from the society. Her difference that pops out of the majority of people ends with a tragic
event. In this poem, the main character which from my understanding is the goth happens to doubt
themselves and starts to feel insecure. The goth hesitates whether what they’re doing which is
against the custom is something wrong or not. Though the goth is different, the writer emphasize
that they are still human beings. Despite of the fact that they’re human, some won’t treat them the
same way as the other. In fact, most people in the society do so. Every line of the poem makes the
reader drowned even more to the vulnerability of the goths.

Doubt of themselves as gothic people is delivered through the use of questions which are remained
unanswered or in other words rhetorical questions. The first stanza is structured into 4 lines and in
each of the ending, there is a question mark. These punctuations give its own value to the poem
whereas in this case it represents lots of confusion as well as uncertainty. The writer structured the
first stanza like that to turn on the reader’s curiosity. Using questions, the writer expect the reader
to examine the poem further to get a better understanding about the rhetorical questions.
Furthermore, there is also repetition on the first and second word in all of the 4 lines. This then
creates a kind of rhythm as the reader goes through the stanza.

Although gothic people are different, they are still human beings. The writer gives some
details in the poem such as the fact that goth uses piercing; ‘... studs in my lips, or the rings in my
ear?’. In the phrase ‘studs in my lips’, the writer implies connotation and denotation. Stud for its
literal meaning refers to a knob or a button which usually address on a dress shirt however in this
case the phrase ‘studs in my lips’ has its own underlying meaning. It is not a dress shirt button which
is sticked on the lips, but it refers to piercing. The writer decided to express piercing using that
specific phrase perhaps to encourage the reader to have its own creative thinking applied. Though
the gothics use lots of piercings both on lips and ear, it doesn’t mean that they are not human
beings. As explained in the third stanza that the gothic people also have a soul just like the others;
we are kindly creatures, peaceful souls. It is an undeniable fact that gothic people are different
however they are still considered as human.

Though people upheld equality, but the gothic people are not treated the same as others. They are
treated differently in a bad way. They are beaten up by people; ‘knocking the stuffing out of my
man, kicking his skull for all they are worth’. The use of emotive language (especially by using the
word skull instead of body) here directly grabs the reader’s attention. By eliciting emotional
response, the reader is more likely to understand the meaning of the poem. Inside the poem, there
is also a one line stanza; ‘The difference between us is what they can't stand’. This line is put on its
own because it actually sums up what is written before it. It is like a one sentence conclusion that
just quickly summarizes the stanza above it before continuing to another topic. Also, the strucure

1. Main character doubt herself

2. Goth are human beings
3. How the society treats the goth