Saturday's Child Essay Questions

What is the role of race in the poem?

Cullen uses subtle references to race in the poem to show how it creates two different sets of circumstances for children to be born into. By highlighting the speaker's helplessness in the face of adversity, he shows how so much was already set against him before he was born. He contrasts his harsh childhood with that of more privileged white children, contrasting his suffering with their comfort. Race fits into this discussion of fate in that it is suggested to be the determining factor in the speaker's experience.

Why does the poem mimic the form of a nursery rhyme?

The poem employs a structure similar to that of a nursery rhyme to discuss childhood, but subverts the reader's expectations. This technique allows Cullen to describe two very different experiences of being brought up—a Black child brought up in poverty, and white children brought up in privilege and wealth—while giving the surface impression of a children's song. This works to highlight the discussion of birth and youth while also being juxtaposed with the harshness of the speaker's life. Ultimately, this decision works because it shows the way in which the speaker's inherited pain robbed him of being able to experience any of the joy and wonder of actually being a child.