1) The poem analyzes the speaker's relationship with their past and how it used to dominate them. 2) The speaker observes how three other people deal with their own pasts - one guards it protectively, one treats it like a safe harbor they can return to, and one discards it completely. 3) This leads the speaker to realize they can change their attitude. They decide to "cut and stitch" their past to rearrange it and make it fit them better, allowing them to move forward while still acknowledging their history.

1. Name: Charikleia Kotsoni
Student number: 14004
Code number: LIT 5-125Y
Workshop in critical writing: poetry, (group b)
Instructor: Dr. Maria Schoina
Date: 19/12/2011
“CONCEALING THE DARKNESS OF THE PAST CAN
BRING RELEASE”
The speaker of Ha Jin’s poem “The Past” is
emotionally attached to his/her past, creating the
idea that together they form a complex whole.
His/her past has such power over him/her that can
actually control him/her and define who s/he is.
Nevertheless, the speaker achieves to make a shift in
his/her relationship with the past that until then seems to
dominate him/her. This change is accomplished
through the observation of three other people’s
attitude towards their past. Although s/he changes
his/her attitude, s/he doesn’t make a full reverse, but
manages to depend less on his/her past and regains
control of his/her life.
In the beginning, the speaker makes an insightful
search of his/her own situation, but seems a little
uncertain and reluctant, as s/he doesn’t embrace the fact
that s/he and his/her past is one inseparable thing, ( l. 1
“I have supposed my past is a part of myself” ). Then,
through a simile, given from everyday life, s/he makes
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2. clear that s/he cannot get away from his/her past,
because it would be there eternally, like his/her shadow
in the sun, appearing even when s/he doesn’t want this
to happen, ( l. 2 “As my shadow that appears whenever
I’m in the sun” ). Moreover, the diction in the first
stanza depicts unpleasant feelings about the eternal
existence of his/her past, ( words like ‘weight’ and
‘must’ show obligation for something unwanted ) and
this is the first instance of the fact that the speaker is not
at all satisfied with the way s/he deals with his/her past
and that is something that s/he would probably change,
if s/he had the chance. In spite of this notion, it is clear
that the speaker is still unable to think of himself/herself
otherwise, ( l. 4 “…or I will become another man”).
The procedure of the speaker’s attitude change
begins when he becomes witness of three other personae
and their own way of dealing with their past, but for all
three of them, there’s a reason why the speaker would
not adopt any of these attitudes. In the second stanza,
the first person to be introduced is someone who guards
his/her past by placing it into an imaginary garden and
putting a wall all around it. This metaphor ( ll. 5-6 “But
I saw someone wall his past into a garden / whose
produce is always in fashion” ) represents an appealing
and interesting, but fake, garden that would attract many
visitors. However, there is a paradox referring to the
entrance in this garden that would seem easy at first, but
it will end up in great danger for the one making the
attempt to visit it, ( ll. 7-8 “If you enter his property
without permission / he will welcome you with a
watchdog or a gun” ). This person, dealing with his past
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3. in this way, is probably someone who considers his past
important and precious and has a strong will to protect
it, so that other would not interfere. Nevertheless,
somebody who makes such an effort to hide something
and guards it strictly, is maybe ashamed of it. The
speaker is quite ironic and sarcastic about this attitude
and moves on to the next observation without adopting
this one.
In the third stanza, a whole different attitude is
introduced by the observation of a different persona.
His past is portrayed as a harbor referring to protection,
assurance and safety. Through an attractive
personification his past is able to sail away to unknown
places, but has also the option to return home when the
world gets hard, ( ll. 9-10-11 “I saw someone…..as a
harbor / whenever it sails, the boat is safe- / if a
storm…..head for home.” ). This person seems to be
adventurous and fond of challenges, but in order to do
that he has been set free of his past first, put it into a safe
boat, let it go and recalls it only when he needs it. When
he is hurt or facing difficulties, he knows he can always
come back. The speaker, once again, is ironic about this
attitude, maybe because s/he is not the kind of person
that would leave everything behind in order to gain
experiences or mostly because s/he considers this
person’s trips as safe and restrained, as he always has
the chance to come back and resembles it to the safe
journey of a kite, ( l.12 “His voyage is the adventure of
a kite” ).
The last person’s attitude he observes, is the
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4. exact opposite of his own. The third persona decides to
get rid of his past, as if it is something dirty and
disgusting, presented through the simile with the trash,
(l. 13 “I saw someone drop his past like trash”). This
person doesn’t have a healthy attitude at all and the
speaker isn’t about to follow his example, as it is a quite
extreme and unjustified reaction. However, through this
observation s/he learns that a change in his/her own
behavior is something achievable, ( ll.15-16 “He has
shown me that without the past / one can also move
ahead and get somewhere)
In the last stanza, the speaker, through a dark
simile, resembles his/her present relationship with the
past to a shroud, ( l. 17 “Like a shroud my past
surrounds me”), showing that he has been haunted by
his/her past, but now decides to fight his/her demons
make a new start. The change begins with the word
‘but’, (l. 18), and the metaphor of cutting and stitching
the past, ( l. 18 “but I will cut it and stitch it, / to make
good shoes with it” ), shows that the attitude s/he has
chosen gives him/her such power that s/he can rearrange
his/her past and make it suitable and perfect fit just for
him/her. The reference to the ‘shoes’ is not random.
Shoes ought to fit perfectly in one’s feet in order for him
to walk properly and we move forward with our feet, (
l.20 “shoes that fit my feet” ).
Overall, the poem makes a perfect circle and
goes back to the beginning, but nothing stays the same.
The speaker first admits that s/he is bound with his/her
past in a way that s/he is haunted by the choices s/he
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5. made in the past. But because s/he cannot accept that,
s/he changes his/her attitude, becomes much more
dominant and confident and makes everything the way
s/he wants it. However the interesting thing is that s/he
adopts a neutral attitude, s/he doesn’t make an extreme
change, but s/he stops feeling chained with his/her past,
s/he is released.
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