Inhabiting and Transforming a Poem

1 Character

by Taslima Nasrim

You're a girl
and you'd better not forget
that when you step over the threshold of your house
men will look askance at you.
When you keep on walking down the lane
men will follow you and whistle.
When you cross the lane and step onto the main road
men will revile you and call you a loose woman.

If you've got no character
you'll turn back,
and if not
you'll keep going
as you're going now.

2 This poem is about how women should carry themselves in certain situations. The author is warning women not to stoop down to the level of some men. She is discussing men who are disrespectful to women and make unneccessary remarks. Nasrim is telling women to not respond to these men because it only encourages them. She says to not turn back.

3 Women sometimes receive remarks from men because of their appearance. If a woman responds to these remarks, she is hurting herself. If she ignores the remarks, she becomes the bigger person in the situation.

4 The narrator is a woman. She is probably the author of the poem. The narrator is speaking to females in general, but most likely young women. The relationship between the speaker and listener is very general. The speaker is warning women in general. Therefore, she doesn't really have a close relationship with the listener.

5 The theme is the character of a person is defined by how he or she reacts to situations. This theme can be seen in the last lines of the poem. Nasrim is basically trying to get the point across that if the woman acknowledges the man, she is encouraging the behavior. And in turn becoming what the man is calling her.