Agenda (Chapter 7): Summary, Themes, and Analysis
⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.
Summary
“Agenda” is a twelve-line poem that reads like a list of commands, an itinerary for a strange, irreverent ritual. The speaker begins by instructing someone to “rise from the dead” and then to “speak to the devil.” This opening immediately blends resurrection—a sacred Christian concept—with an address to the devil, setting a tone of playful blasphemy. The next command directs the reader to “coordinate hand games” to the books of the Bible, merging a childhood clapping or hand-slapping game with the structure of scripture.
The poem then shifts to a visual activity: completing an A4 dot-to-dot of Lot’s wife turning into salt. This references the biblical story of Lot’s wife, who was transformed into a pillar of salt for looking back at Sodom. The dot-to-dot format reduces this dramatic punishment to a mundane, almost childish task. The speaker then thanks Jehovah for the upcoming meal—salt, bread, rice, beans, and chicken—using the language of a traditional grace before eating. But immediately after, the command changes: “Let the dog receive them instead.” This subverts the ritual of giving thanks, redirecting the food to an animal. The poem ends with a sharp, domestic order: “Get off the fucking table and go to bed.”
The sequence is chronological in the sense that each line follows the previous one as a step in a bizarre agenda. The poem moves from resurrection to devil-talk, to Bible-based games, to a dot-to-dot, to a meal, to a dog, and finally to bedtime. The tone is casual, irreverent, and deliberately disruptive, mixing the sacred with the profane, the adult with the childish, and the spiritual with the mundane.
Key Events
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The speaker commands someone to rise from the dead.
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The speaker instructs that person to speak to the devil.
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Hand games are to be coordinated with the books of the Bible.
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An A4 dot-to-dot of Lot’s wife turning into salt is to be completed.
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Thanks are given to Jehovah for a meal of salt, bread, rice, beans, and chicken.
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The dog is instructed to receive the food instead of the humans.
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The speaker orders the listener to get off the table and go to bed.
Character Development
The poem does not develop named characters in a traditional sense, but it strongly implies a speaker with a distinct personality. The speaker is irreverent, playful, and rebellious. They treat resurrection and devil-talk as casual commands, mix Bible study with children’s games, and turn a moment of grace into a joke by giving the food to a dog. The speaker also asserts authority over domestic space, ordering someone off the table and to bed. This suggests a figure who is both childlike and commanding, comfortable subverting religious and household norms.
Lot’s wife appears only as a subject of a dot-to-dot, not as a speaking character. The devil and Jehovah are invoked but not personified. The dog is mentioned as the recipient of the meal, but it is not given agency. The poem’s character work is therefore centered on the speaker’s attitude and the implied relationship between the speaker and the listener—perhaps a child or a pet, given the commands.
Themes, Symbols, or Motifs
Subversion of ritual is the poem’s central theme. The structure of an agenda—a formal list of tasks—is used to present absurd and irreverent actions. The grace before the meal is twisted when the food is given to the dog, and the resurrection command is immediately paired with speaking to the devil. This subversion challenges the authority of both religious and domestic routines.
Childhood games and play appear through the hand games coordinated to the books of the Bible and the dot-to-dot activity. These are typically childish pastimes, but they are applied to sacred texts and stories, creating a tension between innocence and irreverence.
Transformation is evoked through Lot’s wife turning into salt. The dot-to-dot format reduces this miraculous and punitive transformation to a simple drawing exercise, perhaps suggesting that biblical stories have become flattened or commodified in modern culture.
Food and sustenance are present in the meal of salt, bread, rice, beans, and chicken. The act of thanking Jehovah for the food is a ritual of gratitude, but the redirection of the food to the dog disrupts the human-centered ritual, possibly critiquing the emptiness of rote prayers or the prioritization of animals over human needs.
Disobedience is implied throughout. The speaker commands actions that go against religious and social expectations—rising from the dead, speaking to the devil, and giving food to a dog. The final command to “get off the fucking table” suggests a breach of domestic rules, and the profanity underscores the rebellious tone.
Why This Chapter Matters
“Agenda” is a compact but powerful example of Tayi Tibble’s poetic style. In just twelve lines, it encapsulates themes that recur throughout Poukahangatus: the collision of Māori and Christian traditions, the use of pop culture and childhood imagery, and a playful yet critical stance toward authority. The poem’s brevity forces the reader to sit with each image and command, making the subversions feel sharp and deliberate. It also demonstrates how Tibble can take a familiar form—the list or agenda—and turn it into a vehicle for cultural commentary. For readers, this poem serves as a microcosm of the collection’s larger concerns, showing how the personal and the spiritual are often entangled with the mundane and the irreverent.
Study Questions and Answers
1. How does the poem’s structure as an “agenda” contribute to its meaning?
The agenda format presents a series of commands as if they were a formal schedule or to-do list. This structure creates a contrast between the mundane, bureaucratic nature of an agenda and the absurd, sacred, and profane content of the commands. By listing “Rise from the dead” and “Speak to the devil” as items on a list, the poem mocks the idea that such actions could be routine or scheduled. The agenda also implies a sense of order and control, which the speaker subverts by including irreverent and chaotic instructions.
2. What is the effect of giving the meal to the dog instead of the humans?
The command “Let the dog receive them instead” directly follows the thanksgiving to Jehovah for the food. This subverts the Christian ritual of grace, which typically sanctifies the meal for human consumption. By redirecting the food to a dog, the speaker disrupts the ritual’s purpose and suggests that the prayer may be hollow or that the dog is more deserving than the humans. It also introduces a note of absurdity and humor, as the solemn act of thanking God is immediately undercut by a mundane, animalistic action.
3. How does the reference to Lot’s wife function in the poem?
Lot’s wife is a biblical figure who was turned into a pillar of salt for disobeying God’s command not to look back at Sodom. In the poem, she is reduced to an A4 dot-to-dot, a children’s activity that requires connecting numbered dots to reveal a picture. This juxtaposition diminishes the gravity of her transformation, turning a story of punishment and obedience into a playful, mechanical task. The dot-to-dot also suggests that biblical narratives are often simplified or trivialized in modern culture, losing their moral weight. The reference thus reinforces the poem’s theme of subverting religious stories and rituals.
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