Masculine voice
'The Blue Roofs of Japan' is a jazz duet poem that contains two speaker voices. The male voice symbolizes male dominance in society. The male voice is positioned as superior compared to the female voice. Additionally, the male voice leads and offers direction on what the female voice should do. For instance, the female voice repeats what the male voice says. In a societal setup, males dominate over females.
Feminine voice
The female voice symbolizes submissiveness. The female voice is on the right page of the poem. In the poem 'The Blue Roofs of Japan,' the males are depicted as the people who are talkative as compared to women, which is satirical to readers. The female voice repeats everything the male voice says.
The Blue Roofs of Japan
The title of the poem ‘The Blur roofs of Japan’ is emblematic because it represents satisfaction and cheerfulness. The poet says, “In a house with such a blue roof, she said with red hair, you would wake up cheerful every morning.” Therefore, living in a house with a blue roof offers satisfaction and cheerfulness.
Asymmetric Earth
The asymmetric earth represents the unevenness of the people living on earth. For instance, there are different classes of people, where some are poor and others rich. According to the author, despite being too many on this earth, we are all equal. The world's imperfections should not divide people based on class, wealth, education, or gender.
The cup
The narrator uses the cup symbolically to represent the reality of life. An individual living in poverty is like an empty cup waiting to be filled with tea. Individuals with all the necessities of life are compared to a cup that is always warmed with tea. The narrator says, "To hold in the hands like a cup of tea, always full and always empty, the earthy asymmetry of the world.”
