The Deliverer by Tishani Doshi

Analysis of the Title

The title "The Deliverer" carries dual significance. On one hand, it refers to the speaker's mother who delivers a baby girl from a convent in Kerala, India, to her adoptive parents in America. On the other hand, it evokes the term for giving birth, underscoring the poem's exploration of motherhood, birth, and the abandonment of unwanted children.

Structure and Form

Form, Meter, and Rhyme

• The poem is written in free verse and is divided into three distinct sections.
• There is no consistent rhyme scheme or meter, reflecting the raw and direct narrative style.
• The lack of formal structure underscores the chaotic and harsh realities faced by the children and mothers depicted in the poem.

Speaker

• The speaker is the daughter of the woman who delivers the abandoned baby to the adoptive parents.
• The speaker narrates the poem in the present tense, imagining scenes from her mother's past and the child's future, adding layers of reflection and distance.

Setting

• The poem begins in a convent in Kerala, India, highlighting the harsh conditions and societal discrimination faced by abandoned children.
• The setting then shifts to an airport in Milwaukee, USA, contrasting the impoverished Indian environment with the relative affluence and structured environment of America.
• The final section revisits the girl's imagined origins, painting a grim picture of childbirth in a desolate hut outside village boundaries in India.

Poetic Devices

Imagery

• The poem uses stark and disturbing imagery to convey the harsh realities of abandonment and discrimination.
• For example, "Found naked in the streets, / Covered in garbage, stuffed in bags," creates a vivid and unsettling picture of the children's plight.

Juxtaposition

• The poem juxtaposes the grim realities of abandonment in India with the seemingly hopeful adoption scenario in America.
• This contrast highlights the socioeconomic disparities and the complex emotions involved in the adoption process.

Alliteration and Consonance

• Alliteration and consonance are used to emphasize harsh realities, such as in "crippled or dark or girls."
• The repetition of harsh consonant sounds enhances the poem's emotional impact.

Asyndeton

• Asyndeton is used to list the horrific conditions without conjunctions, creating a sense of overwhelming and relentless suffering: "Found naked in the streets, / Covered in garbage, stuffed in bags."

Rhetorical Question

• The rhetorical question in the poem ("How she came to collect children / Because they were crippled or dark or girls.") highlights the societal prejudices and the reasons for abandonment.

Key Themes

Gender Discrimination and Infanticide

• The poem starkly depicts the devaluation of female life and the extreme measures taken by mothers in a deeply patriarchal society.

The imagery of babies being abandoned or buried reflects the harsh reality of gender discrimination: "One of them was dug up by a dog, / Thinking the head barely poking above the ground / Was bone or wood, something to chew."

Poverty, Motherhood, and Adoption

• The poem juxtaposes the dire conditions in which children are abandoned in India with the structured, ceremonial adoption process in America.
• This contrast underscores the complexities and moral ambiguities of cross-cultural adoption.

Line by Line Analysis

Lines 1-4

OUR LADY OF THE LIGHT CONVENT, KERALA

The sister here is telling my mother

How she came to collect children

Because they were crippled or dark or girls.

"The sister here is telling my mother"

• The poem begins with a nun explaining the reasons for the children's abandonment.
• This establishes the setting and the societal prejudices.

"How she came to collect children / Because they were crippled or dark or girls."

• The reasons for abandonment highlight the discriminatory attitudes towards disability, skin colour, and gender.
• The polysyndeton in "crippled or dark or girls" equates these traits as equally undesirable.

Lines 5-7

Found naked in the streets,

Covered in garbage, stuffed in bags,

Abandoned at their doorstep.

"Found naked in the streets,"

• The imagery of children found naked underscores their vulnerability and neglect.

"Covered in garbage, stuffed in bags,"

• This disturbing imagery illustrates the dehumanising conditions in which these children are found.

"Abandoned at their doorstep."

• The doorstep of the convent becomes a place of last resort for desperate mothers.

Lines 8-11

One of them was dug up by a dog,

Thinking the head barely poking above the ground

Was bone or wood, something to chew.

This is the one my mother will bring.

"One of them was dug up by a dog,"

• The image of a child being unearthed by a dog is horrifying and evokes a sense of utter abandonment.

"Thinking the head barely poking above the ground / Was bone or wood, something to chew."

• This line emphasizes the dehumanization and extreme neglect.

"This is the one my mother will bring."

• The selection of this particular child underscores the randomness and desperation of the situation.

Lines 12-15

MILWAUKEE AIRPORT, USA

The parents wait at the gates.

They are American so they know about ceremony

And tradition, about doing things right.

"The parents wait at the gates."

• The shift to the airport in America contrasts sharply with the earlier setting.
• It introduces the adoptive parents and their anticipation.

"They are American so they know about ceremony / And tradition, about doing things right."

• This line highlights the cultural differences and the formalities of adoption in America.

Lines 16-18

They haven't seen or touched her yet.

Don't know of her fetish for plucking hair off hands,

Or how her mother tried to bury her.

"They haven't seen or touched her yet."

• The adoptive parents' anticipation contrasts with their lack of knowledge about the child's past.

"Don't know of her fetish for plucking hair off hands,"

• This detail adds a personal and humanizing touch to the child's character.

"Or how her mother tried to bury her."

• The adoptive parents are unaware of the child's traumatic origins.

Lines 19-21

But they are crying.

We couldn't stop crying, my mother said,

Feeling the strangeness of her empty arms.

"But they are crying."

• The parents' emotional response underscores their anticipation and care.

"We couldn't stop crying, my mother said,"

• The speaker's mother also shares in the emotional intensity of the moment.

"Feeling the strangeness of her empty arms."

• This line conveys the mother's sense of loss and separation from the child.

Lines 22-24

This girl grows up on video tapes,

Sees how she's passed from woman

To woman. She returns to twilight corners.

"This girl grows up on video tapes,"

• The girl's awareness of her adoption is mediated through video recordings.

"Sees how she's passed from woman / To woman."

• The repetition of "woman" emphasizes the connections and separations between the women involved in her life.

"She returns to twilight corners."

• The phrase suggests a yearning to understand her obscure origins.

Lines 25-27

To the day of her birth, How it happens in some desolate hut

Outside village boundaries

Where mothers go to squeeze out life,

"To the day of her birth, How it happens in some desolate hut / Outside village boundaries"

• The return to her birth scene emphasizes the harsh conditions and isolation.

"Where mothers go to squeeze out life,"

• The phrase underscores the painful and dehumanizing process of childbirth in these conditions.

Lines 28-31

Watch body slither out from body,

Feel for penis or no penis,

Toss the baby to the heap of others,

Trudge home to lie down for their men again.

"Watch body slither out from body,"

• The imagery of birth is raw and visceral, emphasizing the harshness of the process.

"Feel for penis or no penis,"

• The clinical examination to determine the baby's gender highlights gender discrimination.

"Toss the baby to the heap of others,"

• The casual disposal of female babies underscores the brutality and devaluation of female life.

"Trudge home to lie down for their men again."

• The final line emphasizes the cycle of subjugation and lack of autonomy faced by these women.