The Red Sweater

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 2014

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Summary

Background

Poem Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Form and Meter

“The Red Sweater” is twenty-eight lines of unrhymed free verse organized in two stanzas. The longer first section is twenty-two lines and focuses on the red sweater. The six lines of the second section shifts to the mother’s fast-food uniform and her work time outside of the twenty-hour block of time it took to earn the money for the sweater.

The poem does not follow a set formal pattern, but most of the lines appear in groups of four, three, six, or five similarly stressed iambic syllables. The overall effect makes the poem sound like natural speech, which reinforces the personal nature of the poem and makes the speaker sound both familiar and relatable.

Enjambment occurs throughout the poem. The running-over of the phrases forces the reader to knit pieces together as they progress through the text. The title is drawn into the first line in a move that highlights the importance of the red sweater to everything that follows. The first line, “slides down into my body, soft” (Line 1) encourages the reader to consider the word “soft,” briefly linking it to “slides” and “body” before joining it to the second line “lambs wool” (Line 2). In another example, the run-over places a similar emphasis on key words: “In a twenty hour period my mother waits / on hundreds of customers: she pushes / each order” (Lines 11-13). Weight is placed on the verbs “waits” and “pushes” and both are folded into lines emphasizing time. The arrangement reflects what the speaker is doing—reaching to analyze the complexities held within the gift of that sweater.

The last line in the first section of the poem contains the only instance of irregular spacing. “How do her wrists / sustain the scraping, lifting and flipping / of meat patties? And twenty” (Lines 20-22). Visually, the twenty hovers there, demanding attention, until the second section picks up to close the gap, “hours are merely links” (Line 23). This is the point where the poem widens its focus from the twenty hours of his mother’s work to its place “in the chain of days startingly similar,” (Line 24). It is the point where the pattern breaks, perhaps suggesting the son may find a different path—thanks, in part, to his mother’s investment in him.

Repetition

Repetition strengthens structure by providing another set of internal connections and contributes to the contemplative tone of the poem.

Alliteration opens the text with a series of sibilant “s”, strident “f”, and soft, airy voiced “w” and “h” sounds. The wool is “what everybody in school is wearing” (Line 2), it hugs his waist, and was bought with hours of his mother’s work at the “fast-food joint” (Line 5). The sweater slides on, is soft, is worn in school, its sleeves are snug—it “fits like a lover” (Line 6). The tonal effect is musical, sensual, and thoughtful.

The sounds continue in the section focusing on his mother’s work: seconds, slaps, flipping, hours. It is another method to show how the work and what he is wearing are inextricably intertwined. The softness of the son’s consideration is retained, but harder consonants appear to add tension. He sees her “over the hot oil in the fryers / dipping a strainer full of stringed potatoes” (Lines 9-10). The burritos, the patties, the heat, fill the twenty hours of work.

“Twenty hours” is repeated throughout the poem. He says, “for me to have it my mother worked twenty / hours (Lines 4-5). He tells us “In a twenty hour period my mother waits / on hundreds of customers” (Lines 11-12) and understands that “twenty // hours are merely links / in the chain of days startling similar,” (Lines 22-24). The speaker does not forget the number of hours his mother puts in and the repetition ensures the reader does not either.

The repetitions are linked to the speaker’s examination of the sweater and its cost. The quality of the garment and the gift are clarified while he quantifies the effort invested in it. He asks, “How many burritos can one make in a continuous day?” (Line 18), “How many pounds of onions, lettuce, and tomatoes / pass through the slicer?” (Lines 19-20) and wonders how his mother’s wrists handle the repetitive motion of flipping patties.

The sound patterns in the poem reinforce the repetitiveness of the work and demonstrate the ties that bind everything—individuals, family members, work, and identities—together in a larger system.

Voice

Legaspi’s poem has roots in his experiences. “The Red Sweater” is lyrical—its voice is personal and musical. The language is beautiful but not ornate. It is written in accessible language—most of the challenge comes from line breaks.

The first-person speaker lingers over the quality of the sweater and takes the time to think about where it came from. He shares specific details. He shows empathy by caring about what his mother does at her job. Though the speaker never directly tells the reader what emotions he is feeling, every piece of the poem’s contemplation and analysis shows it.

The voice in the poem is thoughtful and speaks truth.