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"Babi Yar" By Yevgeny Yevtushenko: An Analysis - College Essays

"Babi Yar" By Yevgeny Yevtushenko: An Analysis

Yevtushenko speaks in first person throughout the poem. This creates the tone of
him being in the shoes of the Jews. As he says in lines 63-64, "No Jewish blood
is mixed in mine, but let me be a Jew . . . " He writes the poem to evoke
compassion for the Jews and make others aware of their hardships and injustices.
"Only then can I call myself Russian." (lines 66-67). The poet writes of a
future time when the Russian people realize that the Jews are people as well
accept them as such. If you hate the Jews, he asks, why not hate me as well?
True peace and unity will only occur when they have accepted everyone, including
the Jews.

Stanza I describes the forest of Babi Yar, a ravine on the ...

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bars the marks of the persecution of the past. There is
still terrible persecution of the Jews in present times because of their
religion. These lines serve as the transition from the Biblical and ancient
examples he gives to the allusions of more recent acts of hatred. The lines also
allude to the fact that these Russian Jews who were murdered at Babi Yar were
martyrs as well.

The next stanza reminds us of another event in Jewish history where a Jew was
persecuted solely because of his religious beliefs. The poet refers to the
"pettiness" (line 11) of anti-Semitism as the cause of Dreyfus' imprisonment.
Anti-Semitism is his "betrayer" (line 12) when he is framed, and anti-Semitism
is his "judge" (line 12) when he is wrongly found guilty. Lines 13-14 claim that
even the fine and supposedly civilized women of society shun Dreyfus because he
is a Jew and fear him like they would fear an animal.

In stanza III, Yevtushenko brings himself to the midst of the pogroms of
Bielostok. ...

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PAPER DETAILS

Added: 3/1/2008 05:09:57 PM
Category: Poetry & Poets
Type: Premium Paper
Words: 983
Pages: 4

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