Analysis of Dusting By Julia Alvarez

Dusting 
Julia Alvarez

Each morning I wrote my name

on the dusty cabinet, then crossed

the dining room table in script, scrawled

in capitals on the backs of chairs,

practicing signatures like scales

while Mother followed, squirting

linseed from a burping can

into a crumpled-up flannel.

She erased my fingerprints

from the bookshelf and rocker,

polished mirrors on the desk

scribbled with my alphabets.

My name was swallowed in the towel

with which she jeweled the table tops.

The grain surfaced in the oak

and the pine grew luminous.

But I refused with every mark

to be like her, anonymous.

In the poem, a young girl tries to leave imprints on the dusty objects in her house in which later are wiped away by her mother. “Each morning I wrote my name on the dusty cabinet, then crossed the dining table in script, scrawled in capitals on the back of chairs, practicing signatures like scales” I believe that the author is trying to compare the young girl’s aspirations to her mother’s. The girl wishes to leave her imprint on the world. No matter how often her mother wiped away the smudged fingerprints, they would always reappear. In the poem, the girl shows us how she “refused with every mark, to be like her, anonymous”. This statement shows us how the girl feels about her mother’s accomplishments. She believes that her mother achieved as much as anyone else and her mother’s achievements are almost unrecognized by her. She cannot stand the thought of ending up like this, so day after day, she continues to leave her mark.

As children, have wild dreams. Some of us dream to accomplish and aim to beat our siblings in terms of results and more. Sometimes, we imagined ourselves being heroes or what people look up to. When I was young, I had goals to achieve. When I was young, when I won a trophy during sports day or when I got good results during examinations, I would be very excited to show it to my parents as I know that they will feel very proud of me.

Analysis by: Pok Zheng Ning (30) 2/3