Interpretation of ‘Being Independent’ by Rupi Kaur

This poem was written by Rupi Kaur. She is a poet as well as a feminist activist who has written many poems with the theme of women empowerment. In the poem 'Being Independent', Rupi Kaur used simple language that readers can understand easily. She only uses one literary device, namely hyperbole in the first stanza (fifth line).

This poem consists of two stanzas. The author uses the first point of view (I) as the speaker of the poem itself. The 'I' character in this poem will express her thoughts to the second character (you). When viewed as a whole, this poem was delivered by a woman to her couple.

I do not want to have you

To fill the empty parts of me.

I want to be full on my own.

I want to be so complete

I could light a whole city

In the first stanza, the speaker (the 'I' character) says that she does not want to have the 'you' character to complete the empty part in her. In my opinion, ‘I’ character wants to emphasize that women don't want to have a partner just to fill the emptiness that exists in them. In the third line, the speaker also says that she (the woman) wants to be full because of herself. She wants to be very complete in her own way.

In fact, the speaker uses a hyperbola (I can light up the whole city) to emphasize the will. In this section, the concept of women empowerment can be seen. It can describe the will in women who realize that they can become independent individuals because of their own abilities (without the help of men).

And then

I want to have you

Cause the two of us combined

Could set it on fire.

However, in the second stanza, the speaker says that She wants to have a character 'you' that we can assume as her partner (a man). In the third line, the speaker says that they (the characters 'I' and 'you') actually combine with each other (complement each other).

In this stanza, we can see the concept of women empowerment, which implies that women and men have the same position and are related to each other. This stanza can break the society's argument that men are dominant and women are submissive in a relationship.