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Analysis Of Marianne Moore 's Silence

Decent Essays
This poem dramatizes the conflict between superior and common people, particularly in the way the poet’s father portrays, with great admiration, a key traits of superior people. Marianne Moore’s “Silence” is an odd poem. It does not tell a story, but it still feels like a narrative in the way it is written. The poem is made up of a dialogue between the speaker, Marianne Moore, and the person she is quoting, her father. Moore’s father is explaining to her what makes a superior person. In his mind a superior person is someone who does not need to see beauty to appreciate it, is self-reliant, silent, and restrained. Her father seems to be expressing admiration for these superior people. He must view himself as superior, and wishes the same for his daughter. The advice must have made an impact on Moore because she can recall the exchange with such reverence. It is because of this reverence, that readers can trust Moore and trust that her father’s advice is true. Because the poem is a dialogue, it reads differently than any other poem would. The poem reads like a preface to an autobiography, or like a formal conversation between close friends. It is hard to tell the tone of the poem because most the words are not the poet’s own. Readers have a hard time distinguishing whether or not Moore was appreciative, indifferent, or appalled by her father’s advice; Moore’s voice is almost nonexistent in the poem, and there are no obvious or even subtle ways to see what she is
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