Characters and narrator

The song “Brenda’s Got A Baby” by Tupac Shakur is narrated by an outside observer, a witness perhaps to Brenda’s story. The most important characters mentioned in the song are Brenda, her cousin and her parents.

The Speaker

The speaker of Brenda’s story is Tupac, the singer. We see him in the video of the song as a witness to the events, as an observer. We also know the song was inspired by a real story Tupac had read about in the news.

Notice this speaker seems to have limited knowledge of Brenda’s personal story. Yet, he has extensive knowledge of life in the ghetto, so he can put together the pieces of her sad story:

“I hear Brenda's got a baby
But, Brenda's barely got a brain” (p. 167, ll. 3-4)

The speaker also assumes the collective identity of the ...