The Message of Babi Yar-

A detailed Summary of The Message of Babi Yar-

There are very few people in the world who are willing to go

against the popular trends and do what they feel in their hearts is

correct. But Yevgeny Yevtushenko is one of those people. In his poem

Babi Yar, he tells the story of the modern persecution of the Jews,

focusing on atrocities like those of the massacre at Babi Yar and the

pogroms at Beilostok, and also the general anti-Semitism that killed

men like Dreyfus and pervades the entire Russian people. The poem uses

many literary devices, such as graphic imagery and contrasts, while

painting a very clear picture of the scenes of pure horror.

Babi Yar is written in many different voices, all of which,

however, have the same message. The author starts off with his own

perspective, then goes on and describes certain people in modern

Jewish history whose lives will forever be remembered as symbols of

the time. At the end of the poem the author comes back and speaks in

his own voice, yet this time he delivers a message to his people about

how they have committed a large number of these crimes against the

Jews, yet think that such actions are pure and good for Russia. By

switching from the voices of those who were so afflicted by the

In the next three stanzas, the poem takes the standpoint of three

acting so shamelessly, and then he says that Jews must be accepted by

Yevtushenko is a person who is not afraid to go against the popular

change their attitude about Jews. First the author criticizes them for

poem. In his own voice, he asks his people not to fear love. If

undeserving of the events that she had to live through, but in

persecution to a voice of accusation, the author effectively points

After these narratives the poet starts the next section of the

There are two important literary devices used in this section.

mother, whose existence obviously was not harming the country.

uses in this stanza is contrast, as in one line he writes how the

addition to that she was only a small weak child, as weak as a twig.

all Russians who can honestly call themselves that. This is compounded

The poem starts out with a description of the ravine at Babi Yar.

Approximate Word count = 1161
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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