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Facing It by Yusef Komunyakaa

In one light the narrator sees himself standing in front of the memorial and in another light he sees himself as being one with the memorial, almost like a ghost. The narrator also describes his mind balancing between the past and the present when he turns a certain way. "I turn this way--the stone lets me go. I turn that way--I'm inside the Vietnam Veterans Memorial again" (Komunyakaa 8-12). The imagery used here shows the narrator's struggle to balance the light and the reader can sense that struggle with him. That same struggle of balancing their mind is fought by many war veterans. In most cases, these war veterans don't ever truly balance their mind; they just learn how to deal with the triggers and flashbacks.
             When a person holds back a certain emotion, whether it is pain or grief, they can cause an internal war just within themselves. Soldiers who have seen the brutalities of war are susceptible to seeing flashbacks of traumatic experiences if they choose not to talk about or "face" the situations that have impacted them. In lines 14 through 18, the reader can almost feel the internal war that the narrator is having as he "go[es] down the 58,022 names" (Komunyakaa 14). The reader can see that a part of the narrator's soul died in the war as he is "half-expecting to find [his] own" name on the Vietnam Memorial (Komunyakaa 15-16). Another example of that struggle is when the narrator finds the name of Andrew Johnson and then sees "the booby trap's white flash" (Komunyakaa 18). This line indicates one of the narrator's flashbacks and is reliving the death of one of his friends during the war. Both of these examples emphasize the internal struggle within those who have experienced war and the effects it leaves with them. There are healthy triggers as well. When a person is reliving a traumatic experience mentally, more often than not there is something or someone that will bring them back to the present.


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1. Facing It by Yusef Komunyakaa

Facing It by Yusef Komunyakaa My black face fades, hiding inside the black granite. I said I wouldn't, dammit: No tears. I'm stone. I'm flesh. My clouded reflection eyes me like a bird of prey, the profile of night slanted ... arm inside the stone. In the black mirror a woman's trying to erase names: No, she's brushing a boy's hair. Several years following the Vietnam War, Yusef Komunyakaa, being a Vietnam survivor himself, writes the poem, "Facing It," allowing his emotions to resurface while he views the Vietnam Memorial. Yusef allows the reader to experience the conflicts of his feelings,...

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2. Facing It by Yusef Komunyakaa

Yusef Komunyakaa published his works during an era that is characterized by different events. Events of constant change and fast progression, instability of identity and culture, globalization, postcolonialism, and use of virtual reality are eminent during this period. Major occurrences during this ... , and metafictional; self-reflexivity. W.E.B. Du Bois "The Souls of Black Folk", and Claude McKay's "If We Must Die" are works noted during Komunyakaa's period. In the poem "Facing It" by American author Yusef Komunyakaa, the author uses metaphor, imagery, and symbolism in order to express to h...

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3. Yusef Komunyakaa - Facing It

In the poem "Facing It," Yusef Komunyakaa, an African-American, solemnly reflects over his experience serving in the Vietnam War while on a visit to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. ... the memorial begins to change. Initially the poet was distinct, separate from the monument; but as he connected to its profound meaning, his own view becomes hazed by the impending slab of granite. The Memorial and his recollections began to consume him like a bird hunting for its next meal. "Brushstrokes flash, a red ... tries to contain those feelings but with little progress. "I'm stone. I'm flesh" (5). Prese...

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4. Imagery and Symbols in "Facing It" by Yusef Komunyakaa

... Finally, and most sadly, he must feel guilt over having lived through the war while other did not. In Yusef Komunyakaa's poem, "Facing It"," the poet uses conflicting images and symbols to express these conflicting feelings. The speaker of the poem, whom the reader can assume is ... Komunyakaa himself, faces the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial Wall with all of these feelings. Komunyakaa uses the wall as a backdrop to express these feelings. In the poem, the ... uses the wall as a mirror into his feelings of guilt. The poem begins with the use of color to introduce the speaker and the setting...

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  • Grade Level: High School

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