Pub 5

The Analysis of The Identity

By Julio Noboa Polanco

The Identity poem by Julio Noboa Polanco represents a boy who just wants to be different; he just wants to be free.  He doesn’t care about anyone else.  Each line represents how he just wants to be on his own and not clustered in with all the flowers (people).  “Let them be as flowers”, is the first line of this poem.  Julio is simply saying let them be “harnessed to a pot of dirt”, let these flowers always be “watered, fed, guarded, and admired.  He doesn’t care.  “I’d rather be a tall, ugly weed, clinging on cliffs, like an eagle wing-wavering above high, jagged rocks.” That quote from the next paragraph is how Julio expresses his desire for isolation even further.  He wants to be free and away from this horrible lifestyle.

There are two lines that show his metaphorical way of saying “I want out”. “To have broken through the surface of stone, to live, to feel exposed to the madness of the vast, eternal sky.”  This line expresses how he doesn’t want to take the path that everyone else takes. “To be swayed by the breezes of an ancient sea.” This line illustrates how he is basically being forced by society to be in this flowerpot.

One song that can relate to this poem is “I want to break free”, by Queen. There is a quote in the song that can relate to this poem which is, “You're so self satisfied, I don't need you I've got to break free God knows, God knows I want to break free.” This is basically Julio speaking as the narrator in the song, as he would be referring “you” and “you’re” to the people.  It was extremely clear in the poem that Julio wanted to be free from his lifestyle.  Another strong example includes, “I’d rather be unseen, and if then shunned by everyone, than to be a pleasant-smelling flower, growing in clusters in the fertile valley, where they’re praised, handled, and plucked by greedy, human hands.”

I can definitely see a theme of isolation within the relationship between this song and poem.  It is more of a positive isolation because he is kind of leaning towards a transcendentalist kind of attitude.  It is almost like he wants to be one with nature rather than be brainwashed by technology and doing what everyone else is doing, just like the people in the flowerpot.  

            In the end, Julio just wants to break free, as said in the song by Queen.  When it comes down to it he would rather be a tall, ugly weed.  His own path is his only path because the other “flowers” don’t mean anything to him.