What is the reason(s) for the speaker’s decision to commit suicide in "Suicide Note" by Janice Mirikitani? We have to write an essay on...

The speaker in this poem is a woman. Throughout the entire
poem, the speaker gives the reason for committing suicide - it is because she "is not
good enough" in the eyes of her parents. The note is for her
parents.

not
good enough not pretty enough not smart enough
dear mother and father.

I apologize
for disappointing
you.

In her mind, the young
woman believes she has disappointed her parents for just not measuring up to their
expectations. Also, she is apologizing for being a girl, not a
boy:

If only I
were a son, shoulders broad
as the sunset threading through pine,

I would see the light in my mother's
eyes, or the golden pride
reflected
in my father's
dream

I read that this poem
was inspired by an Asian-American college student having jumped from her dorm window
because her grades were not high enough. In many Asian cultures, boys are more valued
than girls. In some areas of China, for example, where families are allowed to only have
one child, if a girl is born, the girl is put up for adoption or worse, left to die.
This is why there are so many adopted babies in the U.S. from China, and most of them
are girls. In any case, Asian families, even when they come to the U.S., are very hard
working and motivated. The parents have high expectations for their
children.

An Asian friend of mine tells me that in Chinese,
there is even a phrase for a child in the family who has greatly pleased his/her
parents, a child who is successful - and the translation for that phrase is "favored
one."

So, bottom line to answer your question, why the
suicide? TOO MUCH PRESSURE!