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HEIR CONDITIONING : ANALYSIS OF THE POEM

STANZA 1

Grand dad did you breathe

Before air cons were invented

Was it hard staying

Alive without modern inventions?

Grandma werent you flustered

As you fluttered with paper fans?

Could you communicate before

Faxes and long distance calls

Became basic necessities?

MEANING

In the first stanza, the poet asks his grandparents about the life before the technology arouse and

become the important usage in the world nowadays. He asks his grandfather was it complicated to

live in the life without technology as he refers the technology to the invention of the air cons. Then

he asks his grandmother regarding the condition when she used paper fans to cool herself. He also

asks his grandmother what were the possibilities for them to communicate without faxes and long

distance calls compared to the world nowadays.

STANZA 2

Grandchild we lived

Before your age. Because

Of our ignorance,

We did not know

Pollution, stress, traffic jams

Destruction of forests, streams and

Hills

We feared God and natureNow nature fears you and

Money is your new God.

MEANING

The second stanza shows the answers given by the poets grandparents that sum up all the

questions in one simple answer. The reason on why they did not experience all the pollution, stress,

traffic jams, and destruction of forests, streams and hills is because of their ignorance; they were

lack of knowledge by that time. His grandparents add, the only thing that they fear is God and nature

but now, the nature turns to fear the entire human race and money is the only obsession to human.

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Themes & Moral Values

1. Technology Brings More Harm Than Good

It may seem that we are living in comfort with all the technology that keeps on improving, but we do

not realize the harms that the technology has brought us. The grandchild thinks that it is impossible

for their grandparents to live in comfort with the help of technology. The child does not realize that

because of the technology itself, the world becomes hotter and that is the reason why some

technologies are created to blind humans with the fake comfort that the technologies bring them.

For example, electric fans and air cons. Technological advancements have other setbacks to the

environment and quality of life.

2. Fear

The older generations were God-fearing people and respected His creation nature. However,

todays generation does not fear God. On the contrary the poet says that now nature fears you and

money is your new God. This indicates that the younger generation has become more materialistic.

They do not care for nature but gives priority to riches and money rather than practicing good values

such as preserving Gods creation.

3. Importance of Preserving Nature

God created nature to preserve life. In stanza 2, the poet gives the consequences of not preserving

nature ; pollution, stress, traffic jams as well as destruction of forests, streams and hills. Humans

seem unaware that the more pollution they make, the more they need to preserve the nature. In

paving the way for development, forest and hills have been destroyed and streams have been

polluted. This has destroyed the natural habitat of many species of animals and plants which help to

retain balance in our ecosystem.