"Begotten" by Andrew Hudgins

Andrew Hudgins moved around the American south often during his childhood. As a result, his poetry reflects the Southern ideals of family and tradition.



In Hudgin's poem, he puts us in the shoes of a not so ordinary child. What makes this child so unique is that he realizes he isn't normal and that he is different. He is begotten.Through what the child says we know he is one of those children that is too smart for his own good.Somehow at his young age, he is able to "discern the features" of his relatives. This is comedic because most children his age would look at their family members and be lucky to remember their names.  The speaker, or the child, does not hate his family by any stretch but rather is merely annoyed by "their high drawls." The speaker doesn't create an angry or outraged tone when regarding his family. Rather he is more patronizing towards his family. This creates an ironic effect because he is patronizing the adults rather than his aunts and uncles belittling him because of his age. This poem is not overly critical in its tone because we get the sense the child enjoys and maybe even likes his family. We get the sense the boy looks forward to his Sunday dinners and "propping his elbows" up on the table to analyze his complex family. The child may never admit to that but he never misses a Sunday dinner for a reason. He may be disappointed he wasn't misplaced by rich parents, but the reader knows the boy would never trade his family for any other family. In this sense, he is like every child who at some time or another wishes they were part of a different family. This poem in its entirety is comedic because the child is wondering why he is a part of this family when it is clear he is just like them.