An analysis of symbols regarding women’s roles in Rupi Kaur’s Milk and Honey, “the hurting” section

Abstract

The objective of this study was to analyze symbols regarding women’s roles that appeared in Rupi Kaur’s poem Milk and Honey, “the hurting” section. This study applied Timpane and Watt’s theory (2001) for the analysis of symbols based on Abrams’ (1999) concept of symbols consisting of both conventional symbols and private symbols. Moreover, the researcher employed a conceptual framework for the analysis of women’s roles for eight roles. The data were analyzed, presented, and tabulated. The result found that there were 12 conventional symbols and 8 private symbols. It was presumed that Rupi Kaur frequently used conventional symbols to express ideas that were uncomplicated to understand to make readers comprehend  a deep significance. Symbols regarding women’s roles were shown in Rupi Kaur’s poem Milk and Honey, “the hurting” section as follows: role of women as a mother (S1), role of women as a daughter (S2), role of women as a generous person (S3), role of women as an empowered person (S5), role of women as victims of discrimination (S6), role of women as a person of subservience to men (S7), and role of women as victims of sexual harassment (S8). Nevertheless, role of women as a provider of unconditional love (S4) was seldom seen in this section. These findings revealed women’s significant roles in the contemporary period, including daughters, mothers, and victims of discrimination. Furthermore, Kaur’ s poetry also portrayed that the issues of unfairness and discrimination against women persisted in the 21^st century.