Denisha Fernandez
Professor Christopher Smith
English 102
4 October 2013
Tupac Shakur, birth name Lesane Crooks, was born June 16, 1971 in Brooklyn, New York, and died September 13, 1996 in Las Vegas. He was the son of two Black Panther activists and according to www.nnbd.com; Shakur’s mother changed his name to honor Incan revolutionary Tupac Amuru. Shakur was a lyricist, poet, actor, and was favored by many. Especially those of the Hip Hop community had great respect for Tupac Shakur. Even though Shakur was known famously for his violent raps, Shakur also dabbled in written poetry. One poem that particularly stood out amongst the few was “The Rose that Grew from Concrete.”
“The Rose that Grew from Concrete” explains a rare moment when a rose grew from a crack in the concrete.The "rose" (line 1) was symbol for something far greater than it’s connotative meaning.. Throughout the poem Shakur explains how the rose proved natures law wrong by growing from such a hard location. Shakur states "Proving nature's law is wrong it learned to walk without having feet"(lines 3-4). Further explaining how the rose still prevailed after growing from such a difficult spot. It didn't bloom from a beautiful location, it grew from somewhere gritty and hard and struggled to become the beautiful rose that it was.
Tupac Shakur used symbolism to portray the life of a young man growing out of hard living area. After further analysis, one can say that the rose eventually succeeding and learning to prevail without any help would be in relation to Tupac’s own life story or any young black male who succeeds in life. Before even being fully introduced into the world, they’re are so many stereotypes casted upon an African American male that he is going to have to eventually deal with. Especially if he is born into a neighborhood with a reputation of violence. So the young male has to basically be exactly like the rose and still prevail in a hard situation. Shakur states “ Funny it seems, but by keeping it’s dreams, it learned to breathe fresh air”(lines 5-6). Further explaining how the rose stayed true to itself and it eventually played out in its favor at the end because it learned to enjoy the better things in life.
Shakur’s poem “ The Rose that Grew from Concrete” also uses personification to subtlety show how the rose actually represents a human being. For example, Shakur states “ Proving nature’s law is wrong it learned to walk without having feet”(lines 3-4). Shakur gave the rose human abilities to show that the rose actually is a symbol for a person. The “rose” also stayed true to its “dreams”(line 5), clearly separating the roses connotative meaning from the its symbolic meaning in the poem.
Tone also plays a key role in the poem “ The Rose that Grew from Concrete.” It shows Shakur’s feeling towards the poem. Throughout the poem Shakur plays a lot on using the rose to symbolize something more, maybe a connection to his own life. Certain elements of the poem breeds a thought in the readers mind that Shakur had a personal attachment to the poem. The ending lines “ Long live the rose that grew from concrete when no one else ever cared”(lines 7-8), displays a lighthearted moment the author had in connection with the poem. Realizing that the figure the rose symbolized still prevailed when all odds were against its success.
Upon first reading one may just think that this poem is just about someone prevailing in a harsh situation when odds were against him. Even though that would be a correct assumption, with further analysis I believe the poem goes a bit deeper than that. When a black male is born in a tough location, odds are already against him. When that male succeeds in life he has proven societies laws wrong, much like the rose in the poem. I believe Shakur was relating this poem to his life, how he was not born in an amazing location and still overcame so much. Shakur Became famous and successful when so much was against him and even though he met a tragic end, Shakur was still by his own denotative definition a “rose.”
Souces
http://www.nndb.com/people/548/000024476/
