The conflict of understanding one's identity in this climate pushes Rankine to reconsider what 'I' or 'you' really means. The motif of repeated and altered pronouns is meant to symbolize a connection between all people affected by the racial tensions in America. “I they he she we you were too concluded yesterday to know whatever was done could also be done, was also done, was never done-” (174). When the storm is not present, it presents a 'calm you can't digest' (89). They blow in the wind of a storm and Rankine's poetry is stirring more storm clouds in from the horizon. The dead leaves can be thought of as simply historical figures who sought racial equality. This is meant to symbolize the plight of black people in America and the wetness of optimism. Rankine says leaves are 'more vibrant wet,' 'even the dead ones' (16). Leaves occupy a similar abstract space as the blue light. The fact that this blueness is in the form of light means that one cannot ignore it: our eyes are always drawn to the light, for better or worse. The blueness represents many things: blues music (born out of the sorrows of American blacks), a vision of beauty that excludes black people, and the blue sky, a symbol of the American dream that does not seem to have room for black people. The narrator seems to want to be bathed in it, but this will not happen. No longer bound by time or space, a blue light appears out of the distance. This symbol appears when Rankine brings the reader into less concrete examples of racial tension. Coming to court is the same as taking on America's racial problem. Tennis is a symbol for the black person's experience in the world. Serena boycotts certain tournaments and seeks victory at others. Fouls are called when they are not deserved outrage ensues at times and emotions are bottled up at other times. The line judges observe and address Serena's black body, and the whole complex seems to reject her presence. Initially brought about by describing the various racially charged incidents in the career of renowned tennis-player, Serena Williams, the game comes to represent much more than the sport the reader may know. In a sense, the response to Citizen is included within the text itself through these sighs. The motivic value of the sigh reminds the reader of the emotional experience of the narrator, often addressed as 'you' instead of by name.

For each sigh, the world responds with 'stop that,' and yet the narrator continues to sigh (71). The sigh is in direct conflict with the moan, which is a more acceptable means of communicating sorrow in society, because sighing seems to be more upsetting.

Buy Study Guide Sighing (Motif and Symbol)īoth a motif and a symbol, the sigh represents a disadvantaged disposition to the world.

American lyric