An Introduction

‘An Introduction’ begins with the speaker, Das, stating that she knows all the
male leaders of India. Their names are a part of her, a tribute to their
overwhelming power. This contrasts significantly with the lack of power she
felt growing up and getting married at sixteen. She struggles with her
identity and is finally able to step away from the traditional role of wife.

Das describes the way that men are able to move through the world with a
solid identity. They are allowed their choices and emotions. In the last lines,
she pushes back against this way of life by stating that she feels things that
do not belong to the man she loves. She too can be “I.”

Themes
Das explores powerful themes of feminism/equal rights, freedom, and
marriage in ‘An Introduction’. This poem is a very clear feminist statement
that advocates for free choice for all women. This is in regards to every
aspect of life, but the poet puts a special emphasis on marriage. She
compares and contrasts the roles of men and women in society and
explains for the reader how her life, the rules she’s forced to obey, infringe
on her freedom. Readers should be able to ask themselves while moving
through the poem how, if at all, the things Das is talking about apply to
their own life. If nothing matches up, they might ask themselves why and if
some kind of unaddressed or unacknowledged privilege is making their
lives better.

Structure and Form

‘An Introduction’ is a sixty-line poem that is contained within a single stanza.
The lines range from three words up to eleven and do not follow a specific
metrical pattern. Das also chose not to use a rhyme scheme. The lines also
vary greatly in length and syllable number. This means that the poem is
written in free verse. This style of writing allows the poet to explore various
structures and make use of more sporadic rhymes. There are several
examples of half-rhyme and internal rhyme in ‘An Introduction’.

Literary Devices
Kamala Das uses techniques such as enjambment, repetition,
and anaphora in ‘An Introduction’. Repetition and anaphora are seen at the
beginning of a number of lines, such as four and five. In this instance, the
speaker is giving two conviction-filled statements about who she is. This is
conveyed through the repetition of the pronoun “I”. Later on, repetition is
used again to define her language as both “English” and “human”. She is a
human being, as equal and valuable as any other.

There are also several examples of allusion. She references specific a

specific place and the name of a politician that requires some research in
order to understand. Enjambment is another important technique. it can be
seen throughout this poem, but one good example is
the transition between lines fifty-eight and fifty-nine.

Analysis
In the first section of ‘An Introduction,’ the speaker begins by comparing her
knowledge of politicians to the days of the week and months of the year.
Although she does not have a firm grasp on politics itself, those in power
have remained in her mind. This shows their power to be much greater
than their role should allow. The first of these she is able to recall is
“Nehru,” who served as India’s first prime minister after the withdrawal of
the British.

After these opening lines that set the scene, the speaker moves on to
describe her own being. She is “Indian” and she is “very brown.” Lastly, she
is from Malabar in southwest India. These are the basics of her life, but of
course not everything. She adds that she is able to, speak three
languages, write in Two, dream in one.
She continues to describe language and the role it plays in her life by
saying that she is judged for writing in English. It is not her “mother-
tongue.” Whenever she is criticized for how she speaks and writes she feels
as if she is alone. There is no one, not her friends or cousins, who back her
up. They are critics “Every one.”

She directs the next line at this group, asking them why they care what she
speaks. She feels a deep connection to the words she uses and how,
through “distortions,” her language can only be defined as her own.

In the next twelve lines of ‘An Introduction,’ the speaker goes on to describe
herself as “half English, half Indian.” She sees the humor in this combination
and acknowledges that fact as it is “honest.” This seems to be one of the
most important parts of her, a desire for authenticity and honesty. Her
identity, as seen through her voice, is “human” just as she is human. It
should be held under that single defining category and no other.

Das describes the control she has over her voice, whether
through speech or text. It can display all of her emotions and her, mind
that sees and hears and Is aware.
Human speech is to humans as roaring is to lions. It is intelligible, unlike the
roaring of a storm or the “mutterings of the blazing fire.” The speaker
defines her freedom through the use of her voice. In the next lines, she
explains to the reader that there are other circumstances in her life that
infringe on that freedom. They are out of her control.

She introduces this section by stating that she only felt older as she grew
because she was told of her own physical changes.

Her unhappiness is defined in the next section of lines of ‘An

Introduction’ and is directly related to a need for freedom. When she was
young she “asked for love,” because she didn’t know what else to want. This
ended with her marriage at sixteen and the closing of a bedroom door.
Although her husband did not beat her, her, sad woman-body felt so
beaten.
This line of An Introduction is interesting as she is placing her own body in
one of the categories she rebelled against in the first stanza. It is due to this
simplification of a woman as nothing more than a body that led her to
marriage at sixteen. She also places blame on her own body for leading her
to this place. Her distinctly female parts, “breasts and womb” are a crushing
weight on her life. The pressure placed on her by her husband and by her
family led to an emotional and mental shrinking. It was a “Pitiful” process.
But it ended.

She goes on to state that a change came over her. She decided to put on
her “Brother’s trousers” and cut off her hair. The speaker is ridding herself
of the female image that has harmed her. Now that she is remaking her
identity she is able to say no to the traditions of womanhood. These include
fitting in and dressing in “saris.” The “categorizers” might tell her not
to, peep in through our lace-draped windows
But she is not going to listen. She chose to move her life beyond the
traditional and therefore expand her presence in the world.

In the first two lines of the next section of ‘An Introduction,’ it becomes clear
that the speaker is truly meant to be the poet herself. She wonders at her
own identity and marvels over the fact that she can now be, Amy, or be
Kamala. Or, better Still, be Madhavikutty.
It is by this final name that the poet, Kamala Das, came to be known and is
still called. Das added another few reminders on behalf of the
“categorizers.” She shouldn’t “play pretending games” or “cry
embarrassingly loud.” Her role as a woman is supposed to be meek, quiet,
and contained.

She goes on to describe a time in which she met and loved a man. This
person is referred to as “man,” he is not named. This strips him of some of
the agency he is so in control of in the next lines. Additionally, the name is
of little importance as he is meant to represent every man in the world who
uses women as he pleases.

At one point, at the height of her emotions, she asks the “man” who he is.
He replies “it is I.” The “I” represents the agency he has in the world. Men
make their own decisions and have the ability to use the pronoun in order
to get what they want.

‘An Introduction’ begins its conclusion with the speaker acknowledging the
constant presence of “I” around her. In the world, she’s a part of there are
“I” men everywhere she looks. A person of this nature is able to go and
“Drink… at twelve” and stay in “hotels of strange towns.” As the lines
continue the division between the speaker and the “I” is blurred. Eventually,
a reader comes to understand that she is trying to come to terms with her
own independence and identity as both “saint” and “sinner.”

She is trapped between her own need for free life and the world which tries
to keep her contained. The final statement is one of protest and resistance.
Das states that she has “Aches” which belong to no one but herself. She too
can be “I.”