Essay Questions

Who are the main characters in the poem ‘The Blue Roofs of Japan: a Score for Interpenetrating Voice’ by Bringhurst?

A careful analysis of the poem reveals two main characters, namely the male and female voice. The poem is a jazz duet meant for performance, in which two speakers talk simultaneously. The male speaker reads the words on the left side of the page while the female speaker repeats the male's voice on the right side of the page. The poem is printed in clear and faint ink to enhance the overlapping of words.

What is the main theme in the poem?

Male dominance is the main theme in the poem because the female voice is repeated after the mail voice is said. Similarly, the reader notes that the male voice on the left side of the page is wordy compared to the female voice on the right side of the page. The author of the poem uses the male voice as a dominant factor to depict the reality in society. Over the years, most societies position a man as a superior being who gets access to all favors than a woman.

What is the main satire in the poem ‘The Blue Roofs of Japan’?

The reversal of gender convention emerges as the main irony in the entire poem. The author depicts the male voice as more talkative than the female voice, which contradicts reality. Under normal circumstances, women talk most, but in this poem, the male voice is wordy. The female voice only repeats few words spoken by the male character.