Completely Subjective: Tony Hoagland’s “The Wrong Question”
Are you all right? This is a question we get asked more than one can count. People ask this thinking that it is a simple yes or no question when, in reality, it is so complex. “The Wrong Question” was written by the poet Tony Hoagland. His poems incorporate topics about serious issues, but were known to include a whimsical aspect. Before he passed away, he received many awards and recognitions, like the O.B. Harrison Award for poetry and teaching from the Folger Shakespeare Library. As an adolescent, Hoagland experienced his brother dying of a drug overdose. This had been the inspiration for many of his writings, along with his suffering through pancreatic cancer. Since Hoagland endured so much sorrow throughout his life, the question of whether he was all right was asked multiple times, and that is what pushed him to write about his experience with it.
In the poem, Hoagland chose to use the words all and right instead of alright. The poem can be looked at from many perspectives, focusing on a person’s emotions and feelings or personal experiences. I think he was trying to look at the concept of being all right on a deeper level. Thinking past how one was feeling and more into the life of the person. Zeroing in on his battle with cancer, he was not all right because his body was fighting a deadly disease. He describes the question as wrong because there is no way to truthfully say that you are all right because everyone makes mistakes or goes through suffering at times. My mom sometimes notices me stressed about school or struggling with homework and asks me if I am all right. I usually dismiss the question with a short answer, but sometimes I think to myself, am I all right? In truth, no one is ever all right, that would make a person perfect, and there is no such thing as perfection. So I told my mom, no, I am not all right because if I was, I would have perfect grades and not be stressed. I can relate to Hoagland because there are many times when I make a mistake on a test or answer a question wrong, and I recognize that it’s not right.
In the poem’s second half, Hoagland admits that he had never been all right emotionally. He had experienced pain like no other. He admits that he had “something soft and childish at his core” that has haunted him his whole life. This softness at his core might have made him more vulnerable to hurting. His description of feeling childish signifies that it was hard for him to face the harsh realities of his life because children tend to have problems coping with the struggles they face. As I am still a child, I understand the feelings he experienced. Sometimes, it can be hard to manage the challenges that we face in life, like getting a bad grade or playing badly in a sport. When I do poorly on a test, it can be hard for me to continue on that day because of how I am feeling. For Hoagland, he had to cope with his brother’s death and also his illness, which are some of the most difficult things one can go through in life. His constant contemplation over his well-being at times of despair is reflected entirely in this piece of writing.
The poem reflects Hoagland’s mental state at the time he was asked the question. It is clear that he was feeling unhappy. However, on a deeper level, Hoagland expresses that “all the belts begin to move inside [his] factory,” and he heard an “eight-hour version of the Messiah of [his] Unhappiness.” The belts he is referring to are a common symbol for the thoughts in his head. In addition, the eight hours indicates the standard work day, meaning that his thoughts were a daily occurrence. His mention of the Messiah of unhappiness adds to the fact that his daily thoughts led to sadness. The line implies that Hoagland felt stuck in a cycle of unhappiness. His thoughts from his suffering led to him feeling immense depression. Hoagland looks at the question of whether he was alright through two different lenses and answers it in a way that many people are afraid to do: truthfully. In doing so, he confronts the difficult truths behind his emotions and offers a reflection that resonates with those who have faced similar struggles.