Written for Joe Biden’s inauguration as the 46th President of the United States, Amanda Gorman’s “The Hill We Climb” presents a country that isn’t striving for perfection, but for steady, ongoing improvement. While the U.S. is still full of conflict and difficulty, the speaker suggests, it’s worth celebrating the progress the country has made up the “hill” of justice, and working to make sure that it keeps on climbing. American problems can’t be solved all in one fell swoop, this poem argues—but that’s no reason to give up the hope that things can get a lot better over time.
In recent years, the speaker suggests, the U.S. has been going through a dark and difficult period, full of hatred and division. This doesn’t mean the country is irrevocably broken, however. Rather, Americans should have hope that their “unpolished” country can get better—and should see themselves as playing an important part in that change.
While the U.S. has seen years of turmoil and suffering, the speaker says, this is also a day upon which a “skinny Black girl descended from slaves” can find herself “reciting” for a new president (and hoping to be president herself someday)! This autobiographical moment, in which Amanda Gorman clearly refers to her own life experience as a young Black poet speaking at Biden’s inauguration, suggests that every individual American has a part to play in changing the country for the better. These lines also point out that the country has already gotten better, in spite of all its recent struggles.
Yet even as there’s plenty of hope for better times, the speaker cautions readers that change comes slowly. What’s important is not to “form a union that is perfect,” but to “forge a union with purpose,” seeing continuous effort as an American value that will continue generation after generation. The American task, the speaker suggests, is to say that “Even as we hurt, we hoped […] Even as we tired, we tried.” That is, Americans shouldn’t be discouraged by the difficulty and pain of trying to make lasting change for the better, but understand these as inevitable parts of progress—and of good citizenship. This kind of persistence also involves looking hopefully to the future. Americans must refuse to give up, because “our inaction and inertia will be the inheritance of the next generation.” Persistently struggling to improve an imperfect reality is part of handing on a better starting point to future Americans.
In the end, the speaker says, what’s most important is not regretting that Americans can’t fix all of their country’s problems at once, but realizing that every American has a part to play in gradually making things better. If Americans can be “brave enough to be” the “light,” change will always come—even if it comes slowly and painfully. The hope of a better future, the speaker concludes, can motivate Americans to commit to the hard work of change.
