Babi Yar - Analysis of the Poem-
A detailed Summary of Babi Yar - Analysis of the Poem-
Yevtushenko speaks in first person throughout the poem. This
creates the tone of him being in the shoes of the Jews. As he says in
lines 63-64, "No Jewish blood is mixed in mine, but let me be a Jew .
. . " He writes the poem to evoke compassion for the Jews and make
others aware of their hardships and injustices. "Only then can I call
myself Russian." (lines 66-67). The poet writes of a future time when
the Russian people realize that the Jews are people as well accept
them as such. If you hate the Jews, he asks, why not hate me as well?
True peace and unity will only occur when they have accepted everyone,
Stanza I describes the forest of Babi Yar, a ravine on the
outskirts of Kiev. It was the site of the Nazi massacre of more than
thirty thousand Russian Jews on September 29-30, 1941. There is no
memorial to the thirty thousand, but fear pervades the area. Fear that
such a thing could occur at the hands of other humans. The poet feels
the persecution and pain and fear of the Jews who stood there in this
place of horror. Yevtushenko makes himself an Israelite slave of Egypt
and a martyr who died for the sake of his religion. In lines 7-8, he

where a Jew was persecuted solely because of his religious beliefs.
between Anne and Paul. Her love of the world and life and spring has
reader Anne's denial of what is going on around her. She tries to
The next stanza reminds us of another event in Jewish history
occur when anti-Semitism has ended. He is not a Jew, yet he equates
are Russians, too. The Nazis in effect have turned Russian against
their ability to be good hearted and moral. He speaks of "men with
these Russian people, he is trying to express, then treat me, a "real"
others. He calls to his people to reform; simultaneously urging the
recent acts of hatred. The lines also allude to the fact that these
can I forget." (line 57). His physical body feels their pain. "Limbs"
The poet refers to the "pettiness" (line 11) of anti-Semitism as the
loss in the embrace of her beloved. In line 33, Yevtushenko shows the
and fear him like they would fear an animal.
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1043
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
Category: English
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