Mr. Z

The first line sets the tone of the poem, "taught early that his mother's skin was the sign of error...". Throughout the entire poem, a person called Mr. Z, tries to get past his ethnicity, but society kept throwing it back in his face. I felt that the author was satirizing society. Society is obsessed with the idea of what is considered "normal." Anyone who is different is labelled by that difference. The label is hard to get rid of and many have to live with it for the rest of their lives. Later in his life he finally overcame his ethnic label but in his obituary it stated, "One of the most distinguished members of his race." He thought he had gotten past it, but it was always there.