In the poem “The Pied Piper,” Natasha Hooper uses various literary techniques to convey her emotions of anger and frustration to the audience. In this regard, most metaphors and symbols are related to the sphere of music, sometimes with specific references to R. Kelly’s works to deliver the main point more vividly. Such an approach intends to draw a sharp distinction between the singer’s ‘voice’ that is praised by society and the ‘voices’ of underage girls that are left unheard. For instance, the author says, “Almost as if all their [little girls’] voices together isn’t the right type of choir” (00:02:15-00:02:19). Moreover, the author uses the image of the pied piper so that people become not only aware of the artist’s crimes but also are able to actively imagine how R. Kelly lures his victims. On the contrary, baldly stating that the singer is a sexual child abuser would fail to have a similar effect. As a result, the author is able to communicate the reasons for anger in just a few words.
Hooper is able to evoke strong feelings by accurately placing the three main subtopics in the order that leads to the greatest emotional impact. Firstly, the poet describes the original story of the pied piper so that the picture of the man who lures children with one’s music would remain in readers’ minds throughout the whole poem. Next, Hooper mentions R. Kelly and how the latter could successfully avoid the punishment, which invites people to reflect on their behavior and evokes feelings of anger as a response to injustice. Finally, the author makes the readers think about the victims, their feelings, and their sufferings, which reveals the full scale of the tragedy and, thus, evokes the strongest emotions.
One metaphor that expresses Hooper’s anger refers to people’s attitudes toward the situation. “After the first allegation, we thought it takes at least two notes to strike a chord,” says the poet condemning the public ignorance (00:01:02-00:01:06). In particular, the line criticizes people’s willingness to justify the crime and claims that there should be at least one more note [case] to evoke some emotional response. As a consequence, it makes the readers feel shame for and anger towards themselves and the surrounding society. In the other place, the author maintains, “R. Kelly tells us he is devoting his life to the Lord, And an angel drowns out the video footage” (00:01:35-00:01:41). By doing so, Hooper reveals the artist’s hypocrisy as well as juxtaposes the moral and religious teachings against R. Kelly’s actions. As a result, it allows the readers to better understand the gravity of the singer’s crime, which, in turn, leads to a stronger emotional reaction.
Additionally, Hooper uses strong words and phrases such as ‘rape’, ‘misogyny’, and ‘the worst black magic’ to strengthen the message’s impact on the audiences’ feelings. Moreover, the poet starts the lines with ‘and again’ and ‘and still’ numerous times throughout the poem. It helps the author to add emotional tension to the text through the sharp contrast with the injustice described in the preceding lines.
As for me, the poem had a strong emotional impact on me as I felt anger, disgust, shame, and pity. However, it also made me reflect on my own behavior and think about the situations when I was ignorant of myself. As a consequence, after reading the poem under review, I promised myself that I would be more sensitive towards injustices in our society, especially when it concerns people whose ‘voices’ are hard to hear.
Work Cited
Hooper, Natasha. “The Pied Piper.” YouTube, uploaded by Button Poetry, 2021.