A Boy Named Sue Poem Analysis

An Unusual Lifestyle Most common/weird names are given to a person because there is usually a meaning to it and throughout time those people tend to figure out the meaning of their given names. In Shel Silverstein’s poem “A Boy Named Sue,” readers find out that a father abandoned his son while also naming him Sue in which the boy hates his given name. The boy does not know why his father gave him that horrible name, but he ends up finding out that his father named his Sue because he knew that it would make him into a strong person. The boy named Sue had a tough time growing up and he was really angry with his father for naming him that but he had a benefit within that name because that name is what made him into a man. He hates that name and the only thing to do to make him feel better is for him to kill the man that gave him that awful name. In “A Boy Named Sue” the author tries to make his readers understand the poem mostly by the use of pathos, conflict, and imagery. The pathos can be seen in line 12 where Silverstein states “life ain’t easy for a boy named Sue.” which explains how the boy grew up having a difficult time. In this line, the boy explains how both female and male react to his certain name by laughing at him because they know that he has a feminine name. In today’s society if a boy has a feminine name then most likely that boy will be judged, bullied, and be laughed at not only in school but in many other places. That is how today’s generation of kids,