An Analysis of the Theme of Help in You Were You by Sandra Beasley

Everyone wants what they cannot have; especially if it is glistening in front of one everyday. From the poem, “You Were You”, I can tell that the “jukebox” is a lonely girl at a bar watching the guy she really likes hit on other girls. This girl is making it so obvious that she likes him yet he keeps ignoring her. She doesn’t let this stop her though, she keeps striving to get this guy who is in the bar bringing another girl home. The major theme in this passage is helplessness; for this girl is pitifully lost in trying to get this guy who obviously doesn’t want anything to do with her. Sandra Beasley, author of “You Were You”, shows and explains the process in which this metaphorical “jukebox’s” emotions change from happy to negative until we realize that she is clingy and possessive. The author is very clever in the ways she goes about describing the feeling of not getting the person one likes by referring to an inanimate object as a person. She starts off the poem with the reader getting a vibe of the “jukebox” as being a very happy and enthusiastic person. She says that “I dreamt we were in your favorite bar” (32) which makes the reader feel like this girl is dating this guy or best friends with him. She seems really happy about herself and this guy. They are at his favorite bar together having a great time and things seem like there going well. She tried to make it a special night by putting on music like “ I played Sam Cooke for you” (32) which must be one of his favorite songs since she was playing it for him. This guy seems really lucky to have this girl in his life because she is doing all the perfect things for him. Unfortunately, this quickly changes as one starts to actually read into the poem and discover what it is truly saying. The “jukebox” starts to make one feel sorry for her and what she’s going through. She didn’t want him to keep hitting on other girls, “I wanted you to take your hand off of her” (32). She is so distraught watching him go home with another girl as she sits there hopelessly and aimlessly knowing how that girl could be her. Another guy tried buying her a drink but she still turned it down because she didn’t want anyone else. She starts losing all hope, not just with him noticing her, but in herself. She loses her confidence when saying “I weighed 300 pounds” (32). All she wanted was this guy to notice her and take her home, not this random girl from the bar. She also says that “my mouth was plastic” (32) inferring that she was to intimidated to talk to him and or that she is no better than this other girl at the bar. Once she starts losing her confidence, everything heads downhill for her. It gets even more obvious that she is astonishingly upset to the point where she ends up causing harm to herself. She just lets everything go, her emotions, feelings, and her ability to make good decisions. One could read this as Being this emotionally unstable makes her feel even worse about herself in general. She starts to feel like she is worthless and that no matter what she does she is hopelessly lost in trying to get this guy. Going back to the overall theme of helplessness, the poem completely grasps the concept by the way the “jukebox” portrays her feeling and emotions towards this guy and about herself. Her feelings are so strong that it makes the reader feel even more pity for this young girl. The “jukebox” doesn’t just say she’s upset and move on, the author implies that this girl is so distraught that she can’t imagine life going on without this guy. It is understandable for someone to be upset if they don’t get what they want, but to be this extreme about it is concerning. It makes her seem as if she is very clingy and possessive; which could be a reason why this guy doesn’t want her in the first place. This girl says that “I was loyal to you” (32) even though this guy obviously is not into her. She is attached and loyal to this guy yet he “Kissed her all the way out the door” (32) as if the “jukebox” wasn’t even an option. This makes her look even worse; she won’t let go of this guy who is clearly hitting on someone else and not paying any attention to her. She is so set on this guy that as the night goes on, she sees no other option than to cause harm to herself. She says “The bubbles in my blood were singing. In the morning, they came to repair me” (32). During that night she was so depressed that she caused harm to herself and that people had to come help her in the morning. And when it says they came to repair her, it doesn’t say she was fixed; it only says they tried to repair her. Going back to how she starts to lose faith in herself, not letting this guy go makes her look desperate to the point where she doesn’t think she’ll ever find a guy as amazing as him. This poem starts off with this young girl being so happy and has a quick change to a negative attitude until we realize that she actually has personality traits of clingy and possessive. Sandra Beasley shows and explains the process in which this metaphorical “jukeboxes” changes quickly and dramatically throughout the poem. Referring back to the major theme in this passage of helplessness, we can see that this young girl can’t help herself from being so emotionally distraught; she has many emotional problems which are stropping here from getting this guy in the first place and potential future guys also. Pity should be felt for this young girl, it is very sad to she one get rejected for someone they like but to see that person keep trying to go for the same person over and over again is just upsetting. It is important that one learns from their mistakes when they make them and hopefully this girl can learn that if someone doesn’t want her, that she shouldn’t keep going for that same person until the point where she ends up hurt.