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Analysis Of Diving Into The Wreck By Adrienne Rich

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Diving into the Wreck by Adrienne Rich goes deeper than the depths of a divers first solo adventure. While that is what the ‘story’ is about, throughout the poem, the narrator suffers from being alone. This poem expresses the fear, stress, anxiousness, and general loss-of-self that loneliness brings to the narrator. The narrator relays the effects of loneliness in a way that everyone can relate to. Too many people either feel lonely or, worse, do not understand what being consumed by loneliness is like. All these emotions that the narrator goes through are the same thing that our family, friends, neighbors, and numerous other people experience. Directly verbalizing how the narrator, or people who experience extreme loneliness, feel is next …show more content…

The sound mimics the waves crashing against the side of the boat. It creates a sense of uneasiness as the diver is examining the ladder. The poem also dwells on the ladder and the meaning which is a hint into the loneliness of the narrator. If this was Jacques Cousteau and his team of well-trained boatmen, he would not stare and examine the ladder. In fact, he would only give it a quick glance, recognize the dive he is about to take and move on. But the diver being alone makes the idea of the ladder and the dive much more intimidating, thus the reason for taking a whole stanza to analyze the ladder. On top of that, the diver dwelling on the ladder causes the reader to do so as well (Shmoop Editorial Team). In this case, the ladder is being used to descend into the ocean. Even the idea of ‘descending’ is intimidating. The concept of the word often has a heavier feeling about it, as opposed to the word ‘ascending’ which carries a much lighter tone. When the reader puts themselves in the same position, they understand how terrifying being on a boat alone and in the middle of the ocean makes the dive appear. Although, on the surface, the ladder appears to be a simple object, the narrator really expresses the feelings of loneliness and fear by taking the time to speculate on the ladder (Shmoop Editorial Team). As the diver begins to descend, in the third stanza, the consonance begins to fade as the ocean consumes the diver. The repetition of

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