I look at the world

Technically speaking, eyes are organs in the head that help a being—person, animal, or otherwise—see the world around them. A creature can navigate the world and discern where they’re going with their eyes. In “I look at the world,” eyes have a symbolic meaning. The speaker’s eyes allow them to grasp the racist components of the society they’re in; they represent perceptions about America.

Eyes symbolize consciousness, as the speaker has “awakening eyes” (Line 2) or “eyes no longer blind” (Line 12). The speaker wasn’t asleep or blind. Rather, sight represents insight or revelations. By looking at the world, the speaker learns about their place in it. They see how racism has “[a]ssigned” (Line 5) them an unfair place in society. They envision how they can make a just world. Eyes symbolize knowledge. Through sight, the speaker gains wisdom, and, as the poem ends, they’re prepared to use their intelligence to remake the world.

In the poem, “walls” are a product of “oppression” (Line 9). The speaker explores a specific kind of oppression: Racism. Symbolically, walls separate people and confine them. In the poem, the speaker is in a “fenced-off narrow space” (Line 4). Walls symbolize the lack of freedom “[a]ssigned” (Line 5) the speaker.