The Good Life by Tracy K. Smith. Literature & Language Essay

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Analysis: The Good Life by Tracy K. Smith
In her poem, The Good Life, Smith (2011) is shedding light on a common lifestyle. Most people who live on a monthly salary forget how to balance and budget for their income. They live the good life on payday and a few days after payday. After a week, these people realize that there is a whole month ahead of them before they get another salary. It is then that they go back to their simple life before they run out on money. Before the month ends, they cannot even afford that simple life. They, therefore, end up starving and leading a miserable life. This would not have been the case if the person budgeted for their money on simple life throughout the month.
Smith (2011) brings out this theme by giving the persona’s personal experience. She proceeds to describe how people perceive money and funds. Like a lover who got away while in real sense the money runs out because of a person’s carelessness. The simile, ‘a mysterious lover who went out to buy milk and never came back’, used in the poem shows people’s perception of money. People love money, and all the good things it can get. However, after spending the money luxuriously for a few days, the money runs out, and they remain to blame the fact that money does not last. They possessed lavish items using money. Just as a lover goes out to get milk in the quest to get good things, the money runs out. The running out is shown by the lover not coming back.
In lines seven and eight, Smith (2011) reveals a woman who is ironically coming to search for water in a village with water scarcity. This draws an image of desperation that one goes for their monthly salary with. Thirsty for money like the woman is thirsty for water. The lines tell of a heritage of poverty and the...