Wichita State English professor Adam Scheffler first encountered the poem “Hook” by James Wright when he was 20, and he’s been thinking about it ever since. He explains why it’s so memorable, and why it might stick with you too, in today’s Why Should I Read This?
If a man with a sharp hook for a hand loomed out at you, as you stood alone, waiting for the bus on a snowy night, you might feel concerned. More so, if you were already depressed, freezing, and heartbroken over a failing relationship. The poet James Wright grew up in the working-class town of Martins Ferry, Ohio, during the Great Depression, and was well-aware of how brutal and cruel life in America can sometimes be. But, he felt, that makes moments of kindness stand out all the more, when they do occur. The hook-handed stranger worries that Wright doesn’t have enough money for the bus: “Did you ever feel a man hold/ Sixty-five cents/ In a hook,/ And place it/ Gently/ In your freezing hand?” Take 65 seconds to read this poem, and feel your mood change as quickly as Wright’s did then.
