An Analysis of Margaret Atwood's Siren Song Essay

In the writing of, America’s Top Parent, Elizabeth Kolbert outlines the parenting strategies of different mothers. Most notably, she talks about the “Chinese Mother,” which does not technically mean this individual must be of Chinese descent. Throughout the essay, Kolbert talks about another essay, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother. The author of that essay, Amy Chua, believes in a binary world. Meaning that there are two kinds of mothers, “Chinese Mothers”, and “Western” mothers. Chinese mothers believe in extreme parenting, whereas Western mothers “think they are being strict when they insist that their children practice their instruments for half an hour a day” (Kolbert). On the other hand, Chinese mothers have much more specific rules

The essay The Writer's Responsibility by Margaret Atwood is written with the intent of urging the privileged writer to utilize their position to speak out for those who are unable to. Her intention is a noble one which I am in agreement with, however, in order for her to express this intent her tone is quite straightforward. It is this candid tone in combination with several generalizations which I have a gripe with. For example, on several occasions Atwood degrades her readers through grand generalizations such as when she says “on a whole the audience prefers art not to be a mirror held to life but a disneyland of the soul” (Atwood 1).

The characterization in The Siren song is subtle, yet creates apparent characters with specific desires and goals. Without knowing the true facts of a siren, the poem specifies that the siren has a sinister secret to unveil to someone. They are willing to barter this secret for their freedom from a particular island, surrounded by other cruel beings like them. They would like to sing them a song, one that has sent others to their deaths. If you know the true nature of the sirens, you would likely know that these hopes and desires are all to create the illusion of someone to save, instead of someone who would bring you to your immediate. Their goal is to tempt you into throwing yourself overboard to hear their “secrets.”

Although having pride in yourself may be a positive in moderation, being too proud of oneself will lead to nothing. Many who look down on others will never learn from their peers, and will only boast of their own achievements. In the poems from “The Odyssey Book 12” by Homer and “Siren Song” by Margaret Atwood, both authors write of Odysseus’ struggle regarding the Sirens. Sirens are half-woman, half-bird creatures who use their music to tempt sailors to shipwreck on islands or to jump off the boat to their death. They call out to him on his journey back home, trying to get him to come to them. The Sirens sing of his great accomplishments, and use flattery to lure him out. These poems show that arrogance and vanity will get one nowhere.

There is significant evidence throughout both 'The Long Queen ' and The Map Women ' to indicate that suffering is a central element of female experience. Both of these poems are present in the 'Feminine Gospels ' written by Carol Ann Duffy. The collection of poetry is seen to be teachings of feminism aiming to provide the reader visions of female identity. One feature of this identity that is examined within these two poems is the theme of mental and physical suffering that women universally endure.

Margaret’s style was prose fiction and known for her feminist perspective. “The Siren Song” is a perfect example of her style. She wrote about prose fiction which is, Classical Greek (romances) Usually as long as a short novel. She wrote amazing books, poems, etc. people loved all of them. Many people or classes such as this one still read poems by her. Her interest in Greek is amazing from the stories she makes. An extraordinary person for amazing books. (Atwood, Margaret. “The siren song.” Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation, n.d. Web. 10 Nov. 2015.)(Atwood, Margaret. “The siren song.” Poetry Foundation. Poetry Foundation, n.d. Web. 10 Nov.

As a result of this mature stance, her speech was respected by many for addressing the important issue of women in society, and doing it in an entertaining manner. Atwood was influential during the feminist movement which began in the 60s and her influence is shown through her literary works. Her speech raises the issue of the role that women should take in society looking at it through the portrayal of women in literature. Atwood’s historical and literary references allow her to validate her points and to explore the role of women and how they are portrayed in literature (good and bad). The audience can easily identify with them – Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Lady Macbeth. Atwood supports her ideas with language techniques and features making her speech worthy of critical study.

In a man’s world, women who want must suffer. They are turned away from personal achievement and forced down a path that encourages a devotional, misguided love. The desperation derived from this obsessive love inevitably causes destruction to its bearer in Toni Morrison’s Song of Solomon. In her novel, the protagonist Milkman searches for his personal and communal identity against a backdrop of disenfranchised, lovelorn women, and the reader watches as their inescapable desires for affection bring women to ruin. Morrison’s female characters are constantly wanting, propelled by their quest for intimacy. In this novel, female love is all-consuming and obsessive to reflect age-old oppressive patriarchal values; women are primarily defined by the men in their lives and achieving a home and a husband should be paramount for even nonconforming women. This wreaks havoc on the psyches of Hagar and Corinthians and begets endless anxiety over marriage and commitment. Through the consistent disintegration of her female characters, Toni Morrison examines the repressive, traumatic ‘ideal’ path for women and its prevalence in our and her novel’s society.

There are many companies in the world today that put an idea of this perfect female body into the heads of women. These images lead to a faulty standard men hold of women and their bodies and that women strive to become. Margaret Atwood addresses the issue of the way men view the female body by writing her essay in the viewpoints of a male so the reader can better understand how the expectation men have of the female body is unrealistic. First, she uses an allusive comparison to show the male expectation of the female body and how it is objectified as if it were a doll that comes with accessories. Next, she uses an anecdote with defamiliarization to show how the way the father views a Barbie doll and the way it portrays the female body to young girls is hypocritical. Lastly, Margaret Atwood uses insidious diction to talk about how men not only view the female body as a product but how they also use the female body as a product which can be sold amongst businessmen. In The Female Body, Margaret Atwood uses many rhetorical devices to convey how the female body is viewed through the eyes of men.

Imagine looking in the mirror every day and not being able to recognize yourself. Going out in public only to be mocked and insulted. Then ponder about how it would feel to be pushed and locked away by your own parents. Most people would not enjoy the sound of being socially unacceptable in the world they live in. But years ago women felt discouraged by the outside world. If women didn’t meet the expectations of others they would became an outcast. They were expected to only take care of the house and kids. Do to these ways of thinking women were left under educated and a prisoner in their own home. For the women who didn’t fit in or had physical disorder they were labelled as freaks.

Which is exactly what the sirens do, they know what these sailors want to hear, so they use that as their lure. In Argonautica, the Argonauts are saved by Orpheus who plays a more beautiful and serenading tune than the Sirens do. We see a slight shift in the appearance and the effect of the sirens in Sinbad. In this work, Sirens are shown to be apart of the water, still with a beautiful song, these creatures have tempting yellow eyes that only seem to affect males. It seems in every story, these Sirens only lure in men. Is it because only men were sailors at the time of the writing of these stories, or is it because men are more prone to falling in the grasp of sin and

It is impossible to discuss the role of women in literature without mentioning the influence of feminism. The later in the timeline one reads, the more prominent it becomes. Each new wave of feminism brings with it its own goals, yet it also continues to strive for some of the same goals as past generations because not everything is accomplished all at once. Although “The Well of Loneliness” by Radclyffe Hall and “Rubyfruit Jungle” by Rita Mae Brown, are two starkly different texts that strongly reflect the feminist eras in which they were written, they have some similarities as well.

One can suggest that Atwood has demonstrated a light and informal tone. The poem is more informal in its writing, leaning more towards intimate entertainment. In her writing, the author is able to capture the attention of her readers by giving real-life situations that one may relate to.

Does the loss of a child result in the end of a marriage? In Margaret Atwood's, The Resplendent Quetzal, a short story about a dysfunctional couple Sarah and Edward, who are both dissatisfied with not only their lives but with one another we learn about their individual stories of how they handle grief and change. Atwood uses imagery, symbolism and character analysis to help the reader understand the struggle each character faces with the death of their child and the realization of their distaste for one another.

Margaret Atwood creates a haunting and beautiful piece describing the experience a sad child goes through. She structures her poem by using five stanzas; two stanzas consisting of five lines, then one stanza with ten lines, and ending with two stanzas consisting of five lines. She uses simple yet powerful diction, tone, metaphors, similes, symbolism, and imagery to show the unknown speaker giving advice to a sad child. Her message/theme is sadness is a part of life and there are different ways to deal with it, but when death comes the thing that one is being sad about doesn’t matter.