Mental Health Awareness in Rupi Kaur's Milk and Honey

Abstract

In a literary work, a poem serves as one of the media to spread awareness and let survivors know that they matter, raising concern about people being more aware of mental health issues. Since the urgency of mental issues has become a massive problem for society these days, many people have gathered around and built social communities to spread mental health awareness. Poetry has been selected as an alternative means of spreading awareness about cognitive issues. The renowned poet and writer Rupi Kaur has shared her poems, and some of them recount the trauma she experienced during her childhood. Rupi shares her personal experience with the reader about how trauma can be expressed in a literary work. She shows the pain, wounds, and suffering in poetic words and collected them in a book called Milk and Honey. This research employs qualitative methods to achieve the study's results by collecting Rupi Kaur’s poems and identifying the metaphors, symbolism, and imagery. The four selected poems were also chosen to reflect her various stages of life. This research also utilizes Michael Riffaterre’s theory to support the analysis by employing heuristic and hermeneutic readings. The study shows that trauma grows in someone’s body because of the lack of education and minimal support in the environment. Rupi has shared her sorrowful experiences in poems that address mental health issues. The findings of this research show that Rupi Kaur can spread awareness of mental issues through literary work. Her poems also highlight the importance of understanding someone who is struggling with a mental health issue.