It's a picture-perfect family. The
speaker looks like her mom and
her brother looks like her dad
"Ons" & "ek" show first person speaker
"Ons" shows that the speaker sees herself as part of the family
Emphasizes unity of family
Reinforces irony at end of poem
Ideal family size (2 parents, 2 kids)
Children are perfect replicas of parents
Stanza 2:
It's a picture-perfect family. They
eat healthily: low-GI product, fruit
and vegetables.
Contrasts with last stanza about speaker's bulimia
Stanza 3:
It's a picture-perfect family.
They go to the gym to keep fit.
Expands on family's healthy lifestyle
Colon at end of line 10 followed by list of activities they do
Stanza 4:
It's a picture-perfect family. Dad and mom
have good jobs, the children do well in school
and they all go to church on Sundays.
The parents have good jobs, so they family does well financially
The children do well in school (in academics, sports & culture)
Like every good family, after a week of work and school they go to church on Sunday
Sunday is the only day of the week mentioned in the poem
Emphasizes the family's religious
Stanza 5:
It's a picture-perfect family. They
like art, make music and have
good friends.
The family's also perfect regarding their interests, talents & social life
People interested in art are often seen as cultured & people respect them
The family's talented & can play musical instruments
Family members have cliques of friends
Meant to be a good thing (having a group of friends) but a clique had negative connotations
Are theses friends too close?
Are the friendships genuine/false?
Stanza 6 & 7:
It's a picture-perfect family. The
speaker, however, gains a little
weight. She often goes to the toilet
to vomit (she has bulimia). She
flushes the toilet and washes her
hands over and over again. They are
not so perfect after all.
See a turning point in poem
The speaker says "net ek" (I just) which shows she's distancing herself from the family
Speaker uses words: "ek" & "my" instead of "ons" (meaning the family unit) which had been used before
Speaker saying she gets a little fat contrasts with the family's healthy lifestyle mentioned before
The speaker suffers from bulimia
Throws up right after eating
She flushes the toilet & washes her hands again &again to hide it from her family
Repetition of "en was en was" (and wash and wash [her hands])
Compulsively trying to cleanse herself of her action
Using the word "Eksieperfeksie" again after showing the truth behind the speaker is ironic