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Analysis Of The Poem No Fly Zone 3 By Tracy Smith

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The Importance of Questioning Authority
While one may assume that Tracy K. Smith is only speaking about the relationship between a mother and daughter in her poem “No-Fly Zone 3,” she is actually using this relationship as a metaphor to discuss the importance of questioning authority throughout our lives. Throughout this poem, the daughter embodies the symbol as an obedient follower, while the mother embodies the symbol as an authority figure.
At the beginning of the poem, Smith introduces the relationship between the mother and daughter by describing an interaction that occurs between them. The reader only observes this one interaction. The mother tells the daughter “save yourself,” and the daughter—without even considering questioning her mother— “answered yes” (l. 2-3). Furthermore, Smith begins this poem with the phrase “once upon a time,” which suggests that the poem would be like that of a fairy tale: never-ending happiness and joy (l. 1). Considering the main idea of the poem, Smith uses this phrase in a satirical way to introduce the relationship between the mother and daughter, or the authority figure and the obedient follower. Smith is saying that the relationship is some ideal fairy tale, the authority figure would give instructions and the follower would obey them without question—thus resulting in never-ending happiness. Returning to the obvious relationship of the mother and daughter, this relationship is acutely innocent. The daughter trusts her mother so much

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