In Etheridge Knight’s poem “Hard Rock Returns to Prison from the Hospital for the Criminal Insane,” he uses a fictional tale to describe the tyrannical elements of prisons while simultaneously conveying the oppression that those who defy authority face in society. Knight effectively utilizes imagery and analogies (implied or clearly stated) to appeal to the readers senses and draw them into the story (and ultimately the motif). The poem’s narrative is centered around a heroic character named Hard Rock. The name “Hard Rock” is a complicated pun on the American penal system and rock/jazz music as well.
Although the term “the Rock,” is associated with the military/federal prison in the San Francisco Bay, the term “hard rock” epitomizes freedom (in music). The phrase/name “Hard Rock” is an excellent example of Knight’s powerful use of diction to exhibit the poem’s meaning on both a denotational and connotational level. The character Hard Rock is his own person-a “free man,” though imprisoned. Knight uses analogies very often in his poem to express images and situations more distinctly. After Hard rock received a lobotomy, Knight describes that “he was turned loose, like a freshly gelded stallion, to try his new status.
Despite the limited written description of the situation, the reader gleans a much more concise image of the event because of the analogy incorporated. The reader visualizes Hard Rock being “released” into an awkward environment (the prison) after being bereaved (gelded) of his free spirit, as well as the anticipation Hard Rock and the other prisoners experience. “He hadsplit purple lips, lumped ears, welts above his yellow eyes, and one long scar that cut across his temple and plowed through a thick canopy of kinky hair” Imagery is very effectively used by Knight in order to illustrate Hard Rock and incidents in the poem.
Phrases such as “bored a hole in his head,” “handcuffed and chained,” “the jewel of a myth,” and “barked in his face,” paint vivid images in the readers mind. Knight’s use of imagery keeps the reader interested in the poem while slowly drawing the reader into the story (emotionally). This element ultimately proves to be very useful to convey the motif of the poem. Knight’s poem displays the corrupt elements of prison life while portraying an analogy about society. Since Hard Rock was a hero to the other prisoners, the authorities took extreme actions to end his defiance.
This is an obvious reference to the civil rights movement and the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Hard Rock, like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. , did not accept the corrupt structure and regulations of his “community. ” Hard Rock took action, as did Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. , to represent the rights of his “people,” and he was a hero to those who would not “take a stand. ” Ultimately, he was silenced unjustly by the “Screws,” referencing to the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. After Hard Rock’s “silencing,” the other prisoners did not strive to preserve the “spirit” of his rebellion, but they “turned away.
This is very similar to the recession of the civil rights movement after the death of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Combining graphic images of Hard Rock’s rebellion and oppression with analogies about Hard Rock’s prison life, and appropriate dictation, I feel that Knight effectively eludes the reader to his point. “Authorities” often oppress those who voice their beliefs in order to make a change in a predetermined social structure.
King exposes this sad truth by creating a fictional story in a setting similar to that of a governmental structure, and correlating the life of Hard Rock to the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Knight wrote “Hard Rock Returns to Prison from the Hospital for the Criminal Insane” in 1968, when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated and the black nation retreated (temporarily) in their civil rights movement. Although the “fear of years” may have “cut groovesdeeply across (their) backs,” in the story and reality, I feel that the essence of the movement (displayed by Hard Rock and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. ) still lives in each person who has ever faced discrimination.
