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Milk And Honey Analysis

Decent Essays

Milk and Honey by Rupi Kaur

Rupi Kaur wrote Milk and Honey as a 21-year-old woman and it's the first collection of her poems, based on past experiences she had. This is the first time she fully let herself be vulnerable and real in her poetry in such a public manner, besides the reason to get her own story out, the purpose of Milk and Honey is to help other girls. Rupi Kaur was raped by one of her dad's co-workers whom she had known for a long time. This among other past experiences is what helped shape Milk and Honey. The structure of Milk and Honey is very unique; it is separated into four sections: The hurting, the loving, the breaking, and the healing. The book begins with Kaur at a young age, but there are several elements that do not go in chronological order. The hurting is the first section of Milk and Honey; these poems center around Kaur's misconception about love and touches on why they are the way they are. Kaur is rejecting love and has been hurt by men, creating a negative connotation with both love, physically and emotionally from a very young age. She explains the first time a boy kissed her and compares him holding her shoulders down to the handlebars of the first bicycle he ever rode. This metaphor explains the first time she felt empty because of the way a boy touched her. From a young age, Kaur felt this sense of emptiness and numbness in her life. She says that "she was a rose in the hands of those who had no intention of keeping her". This use of symbolism hints at the delicacy of a rose and how it was manhandled by someone who didn't recognize it's true worth. Her distortion of love in this section is so evident and each poem appeals to pathos, each hitting at a different emotion. The next section is “the loving”. This part of the book highlights the beauty in love and is a total shift from the hurting. Not only has Kaur opened herself up to loving someone else, she says she is learning to love by loving herself. This concept appeals to so many girls who have lowered their self-worth because of a male figure in their life. She learns that love is not always physical, but she can feel "touched without being touched". As she grows deeper into this love, he becomes the light

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