Poem Reflection

My first reaction is a feeling of overwhelming familiarity with what is going on in our culture.
The first person is most likely Caucasian. He scans the crowd and spots a 'black' person. He is a bigot who only aids members of his own race. The second person is a regular churchgoer. He is a hypocrite, since religious people are supposed to support anyone who is in need, not just those with whom they share a faith or a church. The poor person is a skeptic, and views the rich person as being idle, likely a benefactor of the bureaucratic processes. The rich person is a snob, viewing poor people as being shiftless and lazy.

The fifth person is likely a person of African descent, as he withholds his stick as a way of spiting white people. He is vengeful.

The last person does things for profit. Unless he gains from doing something, he does not participate in it.

They refuse to share their wood because they hold prejudices against one another. It prevents them from seeing that beneath the skin and what they have, instead of who they are, human beings.

This poem brings to life the elements that are present in most metropolitan societies. These elements dictate how people treat each other. With their application in the poem, they play the role of enlightenment and making us aware of the extent of the rot in society.

The poet is trying to tell us how people would react in dire situations. It tells of the deep seated issues that are present in the society.

If they were willing to use their sticks to feed the fire, they would have survived. The fire could represent the various modes of survival, which requires all members to contribute to it.

Under certain circumstances, it might be necessary to offer advice. I would ask them if they have considered the option of surviving the cold night, instead Of being selfish and prejudiced against one another.

Dying from cold within means that they lacked empathy towards one another. They each felt that the other person was not worthy of their help. This lack of empathy eventually killed them all. They failed to realize t

The last verse is an Eye-opener of what we perceive others to be. While we may claim to belong to specific groups or hold various ideals, at the end of the day, all of these do not matter if we consider other people as being lesser human beings.

People often mistake prejudice to be a grand theory. In actual sense, it is the little actions that determine whether we are prejudiced or not. The labels we pin on others because of their disadvantages nature convicts us of prejudice.

Personal experiences have served to create a connection between the poem and real life. It is true that we treat people differently, depending on our perception of their individuality, social standing and race.

The people in the poem affect the community in a specific way, it breeds hostility. They create opportunities for maltreatment of others because of them being a minority. Each individual in this particular setting has a responsibility to each other. They are meant to protect each other and to contribute towards each other's development, instead of seeing the differences as a point on contention.

This is a community I would want to be part of, with all the characters. This is because it creates an opportunity for spreading awareness about who people are and how the differences should not be a label.

It is the moral responsibility of every individual in society to be a good citizen, but it is not possible to police everyone into being a good citizen. The much we can do is to bring up a generation that is more aware of their responsibility

What was surprising is the fact that they were unwilling to feed the fire that would be beneficial to all of them. Disaster often brings people together, but in this case, it drove them apart.

The major effect of these opinions is that it led to their death. They had a way of saving themselves, but they, quite literally, chose to freeze to death.

The main contributor to these decisions could be fear, hate and the desire for vengeance. Beneath the façade, each of them was striving for self-preservation, which is ironic, as they all ended up dead.

The log of wood is symbolic of the role we play in the society. It involves making the choice of denying others the opportunity to be better, to be more secure.

Given an opportunity to rewrite the story, I would not change its ending. Making a change could throw the entire poem out of balance, because it creates a stark picture of society as it is.

Phrase to describe the poem; Focusing on our differences, death to our society

Alternative title; Choices-Consequences