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Postpartum Depression In Fathers Poem Meaning

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Being inside the working force isn’t all fun and games for everyone, especially people who aren’t living the “American Dream”. The dream that every American has; this dream may be different for a lot of people, but to me it means getting a career that you love to wake up to everyday that also pays the bills. Jan Beatty’s poem “My Father Teaches Me to Dream” describes a working class man who just doesn’t enjoy the lifestyle that he has. He isn’t living the “American Dream” because he doesn’t love what he does as a job. The artwork “Postpartum Depression in Fathers” shows a father holding his baby son looking as if he is about to cry, staring deep into his son’s eyes. This work of art represents the poem “My Father Teaches Me to Dream” perfectly by having this father venting to his son about his horrible job, but inadvertently using reverse motivation hoping that his son does …show more content…

Jan Beatty begins to leave little hints in the poem that show signs of hope that this poem isn’t just about a depressed father complaining. These signs aren’t easily found, because they are rather inferred by the author. These signs show that this father actually loves his son very much and is saying this speech as if to motivate his son to work towards his dreams and put in the effort to excel in the job market. Once this idea is in mind, the title of the poem begins to make sense by how his father is teaching him to dream, just in a different way that is unique and that not a lot of people are familiar with. This strategy is called reverse motivation, its similar to someone saying to the reader that you can’t accomplish something, which in turn just ends up motivating the reader to prove him or her wrong and do it anyways. Similar to the famous quote, “Tell me I can’t, then watch me work twice as hard to prove you wrong” from Inspiring Quotes via Twitter. (cite

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