Emotional Reaction

Above:  Tupac Shakur and his mother Afeni Shakur posing together for a picture

Tupac Amaru Shakur had cared about many people in his lifetime.  However, he had never loved anyone more than his own mother:  Afeni Shakur.  Tupac Shakur showed his affection for her when he wrote and published the hit song Dear Mama.  When his mother passed away, Mr. Shakur underwent a long period of suffering, depression, and even incompetence.  To soothe his pain, in The Rose that Grew from Concrete, he decided to write the tear-wrenching poem When Ure Hero Falls.  In my opinion, this is Mr. Shakur’s most sincerely written poem in the entire book.  In this piece, Tupac seems to be unsure of what to do next in his life now that his mother is no longer there to advise him.  Tupac Shakur shows the confusion and depression he was going through at the time through his diction, which made me feel the emotion of pity.

            Shakur’s poem made me feel sympathy towards him because his word choice emits his disorientation and despair.  For instance, the words he chose to use in the second verse of the poem portrays a very strong feeling of depression:  “When your hero falls from grace / all fairy tales R uncovered” (118).  Mr. Shakur states that he uncovered fairy tales, rather than saying that he realized the truth.  Also, Shakur emphasizes his confusion when he expresses, “When ure Hero falls so Do the stars” (118).  In this line, Mr. Shakur writes that the stars fall when his hero dies, instead of just blandly saying that he is confused.