Charlie Blondell Assignment 1

In the poem Inventing  My Parents, Susan Ludvigson alludes to World War II multiple times throughout the piece. In lines 2-3, the author states how the characters in the bar discuss how "this war will change them." This poem was written in 1942, right in the middle of the war. People were concerned what the future would hold and/or how long the US would be involved. They were anxious of the draft and even more concerned with the total death toll. For obvious reasons, the American people would be forever changed, and these individuals were curious just how. Of course later she references to the "American Dream" and how the wife sees "it a hawk flying over." "It" is referring to the American Dream, which in the mind of the woman, has been tainted and conformed to the universal move to fight and destroy, as the shadow of this great hawk "sweeping every town." At first glance, it would seem as if this poem is directly disagreeing with the war effort, but then it tells of the man's opinion of it all, and he simply "shrugs." I believe this is pointing out how different the American population felt on the issue, while some were over-the-top about it, some simply didn't know how to respond.