The poem manages to show that even though so many people
assume that she has no freedom or will not speak out, the narrator is a strong,
confident Muslim American woman with independence, and a voice willing to fight
back. Kahf shows this through the lines “Yes, I speak English; Yes, I carry
explosives; They’re called words; And if you don’t get up; Off your assumptions,
They’re going to blow you away.” In contrast to the beginning of the poem,
where many lines questioning her American identity started off with the word “No,”
a “Yes” is given for the part that makes her more American, for speaking
English. She shows that she has been tired of people assuming that she is not
an American citizen, and that she is not willing to just stand by and let
others draw conclusions about her without her even getting a voice in the
matter of determining who herself is. Therefore, she describes her “explosives”
as being “words.” The part “explosives” also implies that she has been bottling
up these feelings for awhile, letting some assumptions about her slide, even
though she herself knows that she is American, just like those asking her the
questions. Therefore, “blow away” not only implies that the ignorance of people
will lead to their downfall, but also that the knowledge of the language, used
to fight back, will be an eye-opener for certain people.
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