Who Understands Me but Me by Jimmy Santiago Baca Poem Analysis (Essay Example)

The poem Who Understands Me But Me By Santiago Barca is about how the speaker talks about how they were able to do better once they were left alone. The poem is about how Barcas lacked freedom and outlooks while he was in prison..The speaker was able to identify who they truly were. Barca uses metaphors and similes to convey the readers.

To start things off, Barca uses similes to convey how bad times can lead to a better life. The speaker was saying how they found things about themselves that they didn’t know about. They found things about themself when they were in the cage. It said “I followed these signs like an old tracker and followed the tracks deep into myself.” The speaker is stating how these hard times lead them to find a new part of themselves. The new parts are helping them get through the hardships. Being able to follow these signs can lead them to a better life.

Secondly, Barca uses metaphors to show how a better life can be brought about by difficult times. The speaker says how they feel like they were locked in a cage; the speaker says, “they take my heart and rip it open. I live without a heart; they take my life and crush it. So I live without a future.”The speaker is explaining how they are going through hard times, but they never give up, and they still push through it. For example a hard time when they were in prison locked in a cage they never gave up and got out of there and heard voices that showed he is a truly good person. If they keep pushing through it, they will probably reach the end of it. No matter how hard life gets, they keep fighting to live a better life.

To sum things up, Barca was able to learn and improve from his hard times, which made him able to live a better life. Going through all this time stuck in a cage and more made him able to truly know who he was as a person. The experiences he had in prison tried to make him feel he was worthless to society. When he looked within, he found the long-lost voices that made him realize he is truly a beautiful person.This conveys how embracing one's hardships can lead them to a much better life.