Introduction
“Mexican” Is Not a Noun by Francisco Alarcon depicts the difficulties experienced by Mexicans in the United States. The writer relies on figurative language and sound effects to catch the readers’ attention and create a sense of urgency to understand the immigrants’ despair. Hence, the author aims to prove that Mexicans are hurt by their life obstacles caused by racism and prejudices through this short poem.
Discussion
In this poem, Alarcon, of Mexican origins, communicates with his American audience. He mentions every Mexican’s problems, such as low-paying jobs, to show the prevalence of racism in their daily lives. Presumably, the author accuses his audience of ignorance and disinterest in the problems of people who only want to live in peace side by side. Alarcon’s arguments demonstrate that immigrants are forced to worry about their welfare, and police treat them differently, which justifies that their lives and properties are not protected in the country. Thus, his primary purpose is to state dissatisfaction with the current attitude toward Mexicans.
The poem starts with “Mexican is not a noun or an adjective” to offer the reader food for thought since it is clear that a Mexican is a person, that is, a noun (Alarcon, 2002). Refuting the apparent facts, the writer wants to prove that a Mexican is not just a person who exists but one who, like all other people, experiences emotions and lives. To this end, the author finally returns to the main idea with which he began the presentation of his thoughts, answering that a Mexican is a verb because his whole life develops around actions. Alarcon delivers this idea by using a simile, “just like a verb,” to figuratively compare actions that the term does to Mexicans, which is a very extraordinary but adequate decision (Alarcon, 2002).
The writer uses figurative language to depict how insulted, offended, and marginalized Mexican people feel. For example, the metaphor “a nail in the soul” means that hearing them being addressed as Mexicans touch people so much that it feels like someone is driving a nail into the soul alive. Through this metaphor, a reader experiences the same pain as these people of color do whenever they face stereotypes.
Another figurative tool is the imagery “a checkmark on a welfare police form,” which creates an image of a severe police officer monitoring Mexicans (Alarcon, 2002). A police welfare check usually conducted to record crimes chases Mexicans, meaning people do not trust them and treat them as dangerous criminals. This tendency to be followed by police and to earn little money concerns the writer to the extent that he writes this poem to highlight the immigrants’ worries.
Sound effects play a vital role in making a reader feel the desperation of Mexicans in every word Alarcon uses. The poem consists of six short stanzas with long pauses between the lines for easy comprehension. Alliteration, a sound effect occurring at the beginning of the poem, comprises the words beginning with the same consonant as in: “lifelong low-paying” (Alarcon, 2002). In this context, the writer uses it to inject a hopeless and frustrating mood into his writing because he aims to convey negative emotions from discrimination. On another side, alliteration can be viewed as a persuasive technique to emphasize this phrase and raise low-paying jobs’ severity compared to other difficulties experienced by Mexicans.
The poem has a particular rhythm that is repeated throughout the text. Alarcon utilizes regular rhythm to make his poem more memorable and create a sense of balance during reading. It is impressive how the writer manages to put a very critical issue of racism into such a short poem with a regular rhythm characterized by simplicity and ease. Regarding a meter, since most lines consist of two words, every line has one stressed syllable. Alarcon uses repetition in the final two stanzas of his poem to emphasize the true nature of the term Mexican. This technique creates a rhythm and makes a reader fully understand the writer’s point that Mexican is a verb as it involves constant actions. Moreover, Alarcon presents his repetition through personification because the word can not hurt, offend, or dream, as these features apply only to people. Through this figurative language, he proves that the term possesses considerable power over the people it addresses.
For some readers, it may seem that the poem has free verses and no rhyme. However, Alarcon uses slant rhyme at the end of the second, third, fourth, and sixth stanzas, meaning that a reader pronounces the final words similarly but not identically. The reason for this wise choice is that these specific stanzas describe the daily problems of Mexicans. Thus, highlighting them helps the audience identify the text’s central message.
Conclusion
To conclude, “Mexican” Is Not a Noun is a short poem depicting a critical problem of marginalized people in the US. This symbolic piece of poetry uses figurative language devices such as metaphor to express the degree to which Mexicans are hurt by racism. While imagery delivers a visual message necessary to understand the issue’s importance, the personification proves that immigrants suffer even from hearing about their distinction from others. Using sound effects and rhyme helps Alarcon to achieve his primary goal of making a reader feel the pain caused by stereotypical exposure.
Reference
Alarcon, F. X. (2002). “Mexican” Is Not a Noun. Poetry Foundation. Web.