The Physical and Psychological Hunger Represented in “No More Cake Here” and “Why I Hate Raisins” By Natalie Diaz Haley Parson College

The concept of hunger can be used to represent many different things, whether it be in the physical, emotional, or conceptual sense. In Natalie Diaz’s poetry, hunger serves to represent ideas in both physical and psychological ways. She places the concept of hunger skillfully throughout her works in When My Brother Was An Aztec, so as to reveal the psychological meanings of hunger under the guise of physical hunger. In her work, Diaz truly embodies the idea that she “is not afraid to be hungry…not afraid to be full” (Harjo). There is a definite sense of hunger present in her poetry, but there is not a fear of unfulfillment. Poems like “No More Cake Here” and “Why I Hate Raisins” incorporate such a sense of physical hunger which, in turn, represents a deeper psychological hunger.

“No More Cake Here” exemplifies the duality of hunger’s meaning in Diaz’s poetry. In the poem, the focus is around a party the speaker is throwing in honor of her brother. However, the reader learns in the first line that it is not jovial birthday party, but a celebration of her brother’s death. However, the speaker describes the party in a gleeful way, which gives the poem an uneasy feeling. Although the description of the party is celebratory, each...