The poem is built from pairs, and in every pair the speaker feels trapped. Each opens with an ordinary human act: smiling, crying, singing, writing. Each shows how others punish it. Smile and you're called weird. Cry and nobody helps. Sing and you get judged. Then comes the "safer" choice: scowl, stay silent, hum. Only by hiding yourself do you get accepted or helped.
The last pair is the darkest. "Die / and become young hero" suggests that people only value someone once they're gone, while "Live / and be nobody" says that staying alive and ordinary earns no notice at all. Judging by the tone, the speaker feels invisible and worn down, and the idea of death looks almost tempting.
The short lines and blunt, cold phrasing create a mood that is tense and lonely. The steady pattern makes the unfairness feel inescapable, like rules the speaker never agreed to but has to follow.