Question

In the context of the poem, how does an individual rise above hardship? Have you ever felt like a "rose that grew from concrete," as described by Tupac Shakur? If so, what was the difficult situation that you faced, and how did you rise above it? If not, who is someone else you might describe as a "rose that grew from concrete"? What makes them similar to this rose?

Answer 1

Answer:

Did you hear about the rose that grew from a crack in the concrete?

Proving nature's laws wrong, it learned to walk without having feet

Funny it seems, but by keeping it's dreams,

It learned to breathe fresh air.

Long live the rose that grew from the concrete

When no one else even cared!

As we can see in the poem above, using a rose as a metaphor, the speaker says an individual can rise above hardship by keeping their dreams. Even if no one believes in them, even if they have to go against nature's laws - against all kinds of adversity -, people can be the rose that grew from the concrete. They can succeed no matter what.

I believe one of the greatest characters in the world that should be compared to that rose to be Nelson Mandela. The world was against him. The laws of his country, the people in power, society, all of it conspired against his purposes and goals. He was imprisoned for decades, but still breathed fresh air, still kept his dreams and principles. He refused to be suffocated by societal concrete. He grew to become president of the very country that once rejected him.

Explanation: