We Are Many

Daniel Zambrano

Ms. Ramirez

English 1

February 13, 2015

Poetry Essay

Life has mysteries that are to be discovered, and some that are to be hidden in the midst of darkness and the deepest parts of someones mind. Some people can’t hold things in anymore and they become someone else. To be someone else that is not you is likely to change but not multiple times. As Pablo Neruda expresses himself in “We Are Many”, the other side of him is not what he wants to be. Neruda’s other side comes out “when I summon my courageous self / a coward completely unknown to me” , and takes over his body in a way he can not control (11-12). Neruda uses hyperbole and imagery in “We Are Many” to present the sense of a different person and false assurance of who he really is.

Neruda uses hyperbole to present the other side within him and feels like he is being taken over by someone he isn’t. “The fool I keep concealed on my person / takes over my talk and occupies my mouth” , is an example of hyperbole and the action of another self being present and taking over Neruda (7-8). An additional self within yourself is a mind trick and can not be physically true unless he is a lunatic. Neruda uses imagery to illustrate the way he suffers from his decision to choose the real him within himself and his other selfs. “Dazzling hero figures”, this line shows Neruda imagining what he can be but can not accomplish with his other self interfering (22). Its as if his other self is his weakness but he can overcome it by encouraging himself.

The poem interprets that people have other sides to themselves and can not choose which one of them they really are. “So I never know just WHO I AM / nor how many I am”, explains people have other side's of themselves they do not know