Timed Writing

Kevin Young, in his poem "The Mission", juxtaposes night and day. Through the use of imagery and metaphors he achieves this difference between day and night.

Young characterizes night and the moments in the day when night approaches as negative. According to Young: "Afternoons I'd look out the shade & think of the graveyard behind Emily Dickinson's house – how death was" (lines 3-7). An afternoon describes the point where the darkness swallows up the light, changing from day to night in a sudden moment. The afternoon symbolizes the exact moment when evil overrides the power of good. Young's use of the word death as one of his activities when the afternoon arrived adds greatly to his conception of day and night. Death manifests itself during the night. On the other hand, day symbolizes life.

Young's use of vivid imagery to describe the day differs greatly from that used to describe night. Young describes the day as, "Maybe it was the sun of the Mission, maybe just being more young, but it was less disquiet than comfort days the streets filled with cars for a wake- children played tag" (lines 11-19). The image that he wants to portray through this description reflects the happiness of the day. Children played during the day, evoking the joy in life. The sun shined bright and shined its light upon all darkness available. The "Mission" referred to religion. During the day the sun and religion shined, repelling the negative forces of evil caused by the night.

Young makes a clear distinction between night and day. He characterizes night as a time where evil roamed freely. The night and afternoon where the times during which death took action. In other words, night symbolized evil. Through Young's employ of descriptive and happy imagery he displays day as a moment of joy where all darkness was destroyed by "the sun of the Mission." By juxtaposing the two times of a day, he creates an image of two opposite times. One characterized by light, the other by evil.