Nineteen

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1990

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Summary

Background

Poem Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Background

Literary Context: Elizabeth Alexander’s The Venus Hottentot

The Venus Hottentot (1990), which includes “Nineteen,” is Elizabeth Alexander’s first book of poems. The collection was received favorably, with Doris Jean Austin noting in her New York Times review that “the current proliferation of benign, yet soothing works of poetry gives ‘The Venus Hottentot’ a particularly exhilarating quality” (Austin, Doris Jean. “Interview.” New York Times). The poems in The Venus Hottentot are distinguished by their sharp, succinct use of language and Alexander’s bold exploration of themes like racial violence, Black identity, and sexual awakening. Black identity is a theme in “Nineteen” as well, with the poet alluding to the speaker feeling out of sorts with the world represented by white food in the poem. Like “Nineteen,” most of the poems of the collection follow a regular stanzaic structure. However, the poems experiment with points of view, enjambment, and the spacing between words in lines. What is the most revolutionary aspect of Alexander’s writing in the collection is her combination of a Postmodernist style of writing, dark humor, and the use of dramatized persona to explore the experience of Black Americans. In “Nineteen,” this persona is the speaker, a woman reflecting on her younger self. Since the publication of The Venus Hottentot, Alexander’s writing has become more experimental in form, while she continues to use dramatic personas to explore American culture and the lived reality of Black Americans.

Historical Context: The Vietnam War (1965-73)

Though the time period in which the poem is set is not made explicit, it can be inferred that the speaker’s 19th summer fell in the decades after the war in Vietnam ended, perhaps the early 1980s. The second protagonist of the poem, the speaker’s older lover, is a Vietnam vet, whose personality has been shaped by his experiences in combat. The particulars of the war are thus critical for a full understanding of the poem’s subtext. The civil conflict in Vietnam accelerated after French colonialists withdrew from the Southeast Asian region in 1954. North Vietnamese communist forces, who had defeated the French, wanted to unite the country under a single communist regime. Russia supported the communist government of North Vietnam, while the US aided South Vietnam. The US entered combat officially in 1965, and by 1969 almost 500,000 Americans and allied troops were stationed in the region.

American action in the war was controversial for its brutality, since soldiers were often ordered to attack civilian villages to target hiding Viet Cong (communist) members. Thousands, if not more, Vietnamese villagers were raped, murdered, and mutilated by American action. The troops themselves fared badly too, unable to cope with the terrain, the hostile conditions of the barracks, and the guerilla warfare of the Viet Cong. Almost 60,000 American soldiers died in Vietnam by the end of the war, and survivors had to cope from PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder). The US was forced to pull out of the war in 1973 because of heavy losses, the first American defeat on foreign soil. In 1975, all of Vietnam was brought under North Vietnamese rule.

America’s decision to join the war was not met with unanimous support at home. Many Americans considered America’s involvement in a distant war unnecessary. For Black Americans, still dealing with racial segregation and violence well into the 1960s, the concept of fighting for a country that mistreated them was even more problematic. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. famously said in a speech in 1967: “We were taking the black, young men who had been crippled by our society and sending them 8,000 miles away to guarantee liberties in Southeast Asia which they had not found in southwest Georgia and East Harlem.” Black Americans formed 31% of the ground troops in Vietnam while consisting at that time of only 12% of the American population. This made the response of Black Americans to the war even more complex.