louis-enecio

[louis-enecio]

A brief literary analysis of Dr. Earl Reum’s “A Person/ A Paper/ A Promise”

1. Background of the poem.

The poem “A Person/ A Paper/ A Promise” was written by Dr. Earl Reum in 1969, supposedly after one of his students committed suicide. The poem was actually not well-known until it appeared in Stephen Chbosky’s 1999 novel “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” and its film adaptation in 2012 of the same name. The poem received its due attention after the novel it was in became popular. Dr. Earl Reum apparently often used this poem as a tool for teen suicide prevention.  The original poem of Dr. Reum did not go like the version in the novel. Chbosky actually mentioned this in his acknowledgements in his novel “And finally…Dr. Earl Reum for writing a beautiful poem and Patrick Comeaux for remembering it wrong when he was 14.”. It is a modified version by Patrick Comeaux who remembered it wrong but supposedly it is more or less the same. Since there is no clear source for the original copy, this paper will analyze the version that is in the novel.

2. Themes and overall message of the poem.

This poem depicts the loss of innocence one experiences as the transition from childhood to adolescence happens. This can be seen in the four stanzas of the poem which is chronologically told by the narrator. The narrator could be referring to himself in the third person because the narrator always knows what the boy in the poem feels or thinks but never knows what another character in the story is thinking. In the beginning lines of each stanza, the boy writes a poem on different pieces of paper for the first three poems and on a brown paper bag for the last one. The poems could be interpreted as symbols for the different periods in the boy’s life starting from when his sister was born to when he tries to take his own life. The tone of the poem gradually becomes more serious as it progresses. The choice of words the author uses includes no slang and only a few contractions such as that’s and didn’t. The gradual descent of the boy into his lowest point and his gradual loss of innocence works well with the narrative style the author uses. Imagery is present like in the first line “Once on a yellow piece of paper with green lines” albeit not much of it can be found throughout the poem. All of the other characters in the story are connected to the themes and play a big role in what the author wants to say. The parents of the boy, his sister, his girlfriend, Father Tracy, and the other kids have all, in some way, changed throughout the poem and this directly affects the main character.

3. Conclusion and takeaways. 

After analyzing the poem “A Person/ A Paper/ A Promise” by Dr. Earl Reum, it can be concluded that the poem calls for awareness on mental health, particularly victims of suicide. Suicide is often considered taboo, or a sign of weakness. The poem sheds light on the fact that not everything that starts out great stays that way. That that drastic change can happen to anyone, that reality hits you when you least expect it. It is a call to reach out to people who are struggling. It is a call to be human. Overall, the poem made use of a few figures of speech such as metonymy and anaphora. The poem also utilized symbolism in its construction and it tries to make the reader empathize with the main character because it depicts the causes of suicide in a relatable way and it calls for more awareness on this topic.