analyze Hazel Tells Lavener

Alamri 1

“Hazel Tells Laverne”

Everyone should have the right and ability to direct his/her life in the way they desire. People should never fall for any kind of stereotypes. The leading representations might negatively affect what a person believes. in the past, the society represented women to be illiterate. Contrary, woman fell for the stereotype that says that men are always taking advantage of them. In our story, the main character, Hazel meets a talking frog. The frog promises her that if she kisses him, she would become a princess. The maid blows away the chance of turning around her whole life. With no dreams and things to believe in, life is nothing but following what people expect us to be and do.

This poem first struck me as slightly comical and lighthearted, but when I analyzed the deeper meaning of the poem, I found there was a somber meaning behind it. Hazel, who is a cleaning woman, recounts a story to her friend LaVerne. The story is similar to the old fairy tale The Princess and the Frog, only this time, our princess is slightly hesitant to kiss the frog. Although Hazel had her chance to kiss the frog and become a princess, she was halted due to her self-perception and consciousness. Hazel thought the idea of being a princess as utterly ludicrous and unbelievable. A woman of her situation and way of life would never be able to rise above what she already was and become something superb and attractive. It is evident that Hazel believes she is forever trapped in her present life. No means of magic could even transform her real life. Hence, this poem interprets missed prospect, and the opportunities people miss out on because of their self-constructed restrictions. This poem comprises a theme with the expression, "me a princess." (Machan,641). She utters this as if the notion itself is entirely unbearable and out of the question. The colloquialism used in the poem gives it a lot of character. The word usage and spelling used by the writer adds on to the funny surface portion of the poem and provides readers with a hint at Hazel's character.

I believe that Katharyn Machan is trying to show how women were expected by society to be uneducated. The writer creates this by slurring some words together and not adding any punctuation. The author uses diction and syntax. The vocabulary used, and lack of any punctuation gives the readers the sense that they are hearing the narration of a story of an uneducated woman. Words like “cleanin,” “musta” (Machan,641), and “ta flushm” (Machan,641) are informal, but they add flavor to the poem. I got the impression of an uneducated, blue-collar, countrywoman seeing this frog. This woman did not know any fairy tales or princess stories, so she got rid of that talking frog. This poem is where there is a little room for interpretation and guesswork; it is straightforward. The diction is carefully crafted to be informal to give it the feeling of a simple, funny story. Contrary to the usual fairytale pattern, Hazel does not wish to kiss the frog and become a princess. Contrasting with the stereotypical image of a girl, Hazel has a sense of independence in her character. Additionally, the lack of punctuation resembles the speaking pattern of what Hazel said, which characterizes her as a loudmouthed fast-thinker who most likely tends to ramble.

This particular poem mocks affection with its hilarious tone. It’s spoken through the eyes of a caretaker in a community lavatory, and it depicts the traditional “Princess and the Frog” tale as ludicrous and uncultured. She calls the frog a “green pervert” although, in the fairy tale, the princess was astonished by the speaking frog, she decided to follow its instructions. The janitor discloses the sentiments a number of individuals have concerning this fairy tale that the story is silly since frogs don’t speak, and anybody eager to listen to a frog would be foolish. The janitor responds in the manner one would assume, by striking the frog with her mop and flushing it down the lavatory, “an i hitsm with my mop an has ta flush the toilet down three times me” (Machan,641). The subject of this poem is that one should not constantly be keen to trust whatsoever people tell you; the lady cleaning the toilet had no intent in considering that she was a princess, mostly because she is an associate of the lower class and would never contemplate herself to be the Royals. Additionally, one should never take the easy way out. The lady is a low-class employee that is perhaps in debt and have fiscal concerns. So, it would be easy for her to get lost in the word that this speaking frog is telling her. Becoming a princess would mean that all of her glitches would be resolved. She would have the money of the country she ruled behind her, and people would look at her a look of respect and honor. The latter would also be important because, at the level of work that she is accustomed, people would rarely see her as a person. As a princess, she would have fame a fortune. So, she had every reason to dream, but it is important that she did not merely consent to this "prince" but stood for what she believed in.

There is also an aspect of irony in the fact that the woman finds a talking frog. You don’t expect the frog to talk since frogs can’t speak but in this poem it does. Also, the frog tells the woman that if she kisses him, she will turn into a princess, “an he says kiss me just kiss me once on the nose” (Machan,641). It is ironic how the woman does not kiss the frog to better her life. Instead, she thinks the frog is a pervert and throws him in the toilet and flushes it three times until it is completely gone.

Symbolism is another aspect of the poem. On the apparent of the poem, the reader identifies a rather amusing tone. The event in which the frog is talking and promising prosperity to the woman and how she hits it and flushes down the toilet is hilarious to consider. Nevertheless, the actual symbolism in the poem is that of the frog as the woman’s ambitions. It appears as absurd to her that she could be anything more than a maid as it is to contemplate the fact that kissing the frog that sprang out of the lavatory might transform one into a princess. She has no assurance in becoming anything more than a maid. She has no sureness in herself at all. Actually, she contemplates it completely absurd to even consider that she could ever be a princess. She has become so contented in this hardworking and self-justifying way of life that she doesn’t even taunt to visualize anything else. She is virtually terrified of change. Nevertheless, the terminating line of the poem that says, “me a princess” (Machan,641) nearly gives the sensation that she envisages it for an instant after her communication is finished. She allows herself to daydream for a while. Nonetheless, she does not sense that she is good enough to be a princess or anything of the kind that is improved than the way of life she now leads. Hazel's response after the frog requests for a kiss is figurative of how women perceive men in the society. Hazel echoes her doubt three times signifying uncertainties among women.

Personification is also evident in this poem. The author attributes human characteristics to an animal. The frog is portrayed to have human aspects such as talking, “so helpmegod he starts talking bout a golden ball” (Machan,641) and the fact that the woman refers to the frog as he, “an he says.” (Machan,641)

The writer uses rhythm in the poem. She uses consonance to bring about rhythm in the poem. “swimmin aroun an tryin” ( Machan,641) and “once on the nose” (Machan,641) bring about the rhythm of the poem by use of consonance. Alliteration is also evident when the persona says, “the toilet down three times” (Machan,641), which bring about an occurrence of the same letter at the beginning of words within the statement. The persona also uses inversion as an element of poetry. She uses hysteron-proteron when she says, “up pops this frog.” (Machan,641). The goal is to call attention to the more important idea by placing it first. The person also uses repetition in the poem when she says “an how i can be a princess me a princess” (Machan,641) and “kiss me just kiss me.” (Machan,641) Repetition is used to highlight a sensation or impression, create rhythm, and improve a sense of insistence.

Poetry is a method of understanding how language and representation structures function. It is an earnest manifestation of deep feelings, or emotion, and aesthetics, or a sense of what is attractive about the world. The use of elements of poetry so that it is more natural for one to analyze and understand the theme of the poem.

Work cited

Katharyn Howd Machan. “Hazel Tells LaVerne”- poem

The Bedford Introduction to Literature Eleventh Edition- Meyer, Michael. New York: Bedford, 2016. Print