The Old and The New
When first reading Harryette Mullen’s tanka on page 101, we can see in our mind’s eye climbers hiking beside dead hikers on Mount Everest. Looking further into the tanka, more meanings are excavated. The climbers represent a new generation of people while the dead represent the past generations that they are trying to surpass. The peak of Everest is the goals, ideals, and innovations the new generation are hoping to achieve, while Everest itself is the journey the climbers go through to achieve their goals. The fatigue represents the old ideals that the newer generation is trying to overcome, while the frozen dead indicates the way the old generation are frozen in their antiquated beliefs and ideals.
The first three words in the poem are “Climbers on Everest” (Mullen 101), which initially gives the reader a vision of a rough and turbulent journey for the climbers. The groups that the climbers are referring to are the …show more content…
The climbers want to reach these goals badly, as they are willing to “press on beyond fatigue” (Mullen 101). In face value, “press” means to steadily apply stress or pressure against an object. In this tanka, “press” means to push forward against those obstacles in life that are keeping the climbers from their goal. The word “beyond” describes the climbers pushing above their own physical and mental limit. The obstacles described in this tanka are the climber’s “fatigue,” which can mean either physical or emotional weariness. Fatigue comes from being exposed to stress that is being pressed against the climbers, which physically tires them, weakens their emotional state, and decreases enthusiasm. The new generation becomes overworked and exhausted as they fight against the obstacles pushing against them. The word “fatigue” both describes the physical and the emotional state of the climbers due to those