"Whatif" By Shel Silverstein

http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/shel_silverstein/poems/14819

I recently read the poem "Whatif" By Shel Silverstein.   In this poem the narrator thinks up all of these what if scenarios while they are trying to fall asleep.  I think that the narrator in this poem is a very paranoid child.

The main reason that I think this is because every single "whatif" that the narrator came up with was negative.  For example "Whatif I get beat up/Whatif there's poison in my cup"  Both of these what if scenarios are about bad things happening to the narrator.  I think that this has to do with the fact that he/she is very paranoid about bad things happening to them.  I also think that due to the subject matter of the what ifs (for example "Whatif I'm dumb in school") the narrator might be paranoid because he/she is a child. Small children have a tendency to get paranoid about bad things happening to them.  I also think that the narrator might be a paranoid child because Shel Silverstein writes a lot of his poems to an audience mostly consisting of young children.

I think that many people, not only small children, become paranoid about bad things happening to them.  When I was a little kid (around 5) I was really afraid of dying.  But it doesn't have to be that extreme.  Being paranoid about bad things happening to you could be as simple as being paranoid about spilling coffee on your shirt, or loosing your favorite crayon.