Looking at the title of Marge Piercy’s “A Work of Artifice,” readers can break it down and sense the foreshadowing. In the Oxford dictionary, “artifice” is defined as “clever or cunning devices or expedients, use to trick or deceive others.” This foreshadows the deception that the writer exposes in the poem. Piercy describes a global dilemma the the use of metaphor (a bonsai tree). A bonsai tree is “an ornamental tree or shrub grown in a pot and artificially prevented from reaching its normal size.” Given the opportunity, this tree could grow to enormous heights. Yet, it is trimmed by gardeners’. This metaphor of the tree compared to women’s suppression and the gardener as the suppressor. Women have been “bound” to “domestic” duties and Marge …show more content…
Diction is evident when Piercey writes “the bonsai tree in the attractive pot could have grown eighty feet tall.” From this line, readers are introduced to the subject, a bonsai tree and hints at the potential of the tree. Readers also notice that thought it could have grown “eighty feet tall,” it had been stunted and is only “nine inches high.” The readers now realize that the tree’s growth has been purposely hindered by the gardener, who is shaping the tree to his own taste and is manipulating it for his own benefit. With this in mind, Piercey writes in the fifteenth line, “how lucky, little tree.” The word lucky underscores that the tree should be blessed to be in the position it is. Blessed that the gardener is trimming down its potential. The sarcasm written is placed to mock the foolishness of society for allowing such an injustice to become norm. Piercey’s use of diction unveils the mistreatment of a bonsai tree to represent society’s exploitation of …show more content…
Readers are introduced to a “bonsai tree in the attractive pot” in the first two lines. Here metaphor is established. The bonsai tree is being compared to the average woman. Like a bonsai tree, the average woman can become a distinguished figure and meet her full potential. For fear that the tree were to grow out of its pot, it may be alienated, it remains confined to its pot. A woman may feel inclined to stick to societal expectations for fear of being detached from others. Consequently, inside the pot, no woman or bonsai tree can grow to their fullest potential. Metaphorical use is also shown as Piercey compares the gardener to society. Continuously, society tries to mold women into being “domestic and weak.” The gardener is shown doing this as he “carefully prunes” and “whittles back the branches.” He is only declining the progression of the bonsai tree as he creates his own vision for it. In the attempt to be “attractive,” the potential of the tree is taken and it continues to watch their branches be pruned and whittled away. Like this tree, women face the struggle to succeed in life while having societal inequities pinned on their
The mood of the speaker changes to guilt as the speaker and her mother realize they would "crawl" with "shame" and leave an "emptiness" in their father's heart and yard. The author negatively connotes "crawl," "shame," and "emptiness" to invoke a more serious and shameful tone. The beginning of the conveyed a more matter-of-fact and pragmatic tone, but changes into a more sentimental one by the end to convey family is more important than the money. The symbol of the tree represents the family, and connects it to their father's hard work and dedication to the family. If they were to cut it down, it would be symbolic of their betrayal. Imagery of the tree is used to describe the freedom and beauty of the tree as it "swings through another year of sun and leaping winds, of leaves and bounding fruit." The tree represents their family bond and how strong it is even through the "whip-crack of the mortgage."
The speaker’s change in attitude and evolvement of emotions depict the enduring effects of prejudice and societal boundaries on the speaker. Unable to rise past the class system, the speaker remains on the outskirts of city limits, picking berries. Losing his enjoyment of picking berries, the speaker comes to a new realization about the cold side of reality, and consequently, when the speaker gives up his child-like view of the world and the sweetness of nature, he receives pain, the stinging thorns of
The garden is the vehicle in which the narrator reveals her reluctance to leave behind the imaginary world of childhood and see the realities of the adult world. The evidence supporting this interpretation is the imagery of hiding. The narrator uses the garden to hide from reality and the
The narrator's vision of her ancestors expanding a plentiful life is emphasized with the picturesque “blue fields…with leaves and vines and orchards.” This then strikes the narrator with the realization that cutting down the tree would be a betrayal to their ancestors, their dreams and the demise of the heritage of the
The significance of the pear tree for Janie reflects the view of love, nature, sexuality, been seen as a change within
As one can see, Sandra Cisneros shows great use of metaphor in the vignette “Four Skinny Trees,” because she shows that people can bloom even in rough situations. “Four who do not
In Toni Morrison's novel Beloved, each character holds a special connection to trees and each places different meaning in them. The motif of trees and plants represent a calming force, escape from hardship, and circle of life that can heal the wounds of slavery. Paul D and Sethe are two characters in particular who place unique meaning in plants and use them as a way to escape their painful memories and the horrors of slavery.
Janie’s dream under the pear tree symbolizes her desire for love. The earliest memory she recalls during her story to Pheoby was spending “every minute that she could steal from her chores under that tree for the last three days” (10). As she lies there, Hurston uses vivid and direct language to portray Janie’s thoughts about sexuality with phrases such as “snowy virginity of the bloom” (10). Not only does she observe the characteristics of the buds, she also finds the action fascinating. “She saw a dust-bearing bee sink into the sanctum of a bloom; the
Any tribulation she has gone through, the author has always related back to the pear tree. Serving as a reminder of her purpose perhaps? As the story progresses, the author reveals more of Janie’s idiosyncratic features; which ultimately unravels a deeper meaning within. Hurston has the extended metaphor of the pear tree symbolize a beginning and an initiation for Janie’s search for that pursuit of love, happiness, and peace. The author’s description of how Joe would repeatedly mention the flaws of her age, threatens yet revives the imagery of this pear tree. The author here emphasizes her resilience to her
“The gardener croons, it is your nature to be small and cozy”, “how lucky, little tree, to have a pot to grow in” or by the sarcastic description of the tree’s pot as being ‘attractive’. Piercy illustrates a gardener who dictates the appearance and growth of a bonsai tree, and compares this relationship to the way men treat women in society. Her opinions of men are represented within
H.D. uses images of fruit to symbolize women in order to highlight the confining character of 20th century London society. To establish the connection between women and fruit the speaker poses the question, “Have you seen fruit under cover / that wanted light—?” (Doolittle, lines 18-19). Although it may appear that the speaker is, indeed, talking about fruit, the following lines use such diction as, “wadded,” “protected,” and “smothered,” which evoke images of confinement and a guarded life (lines 20-21, 23). Since “Sheltered Garden” was published in a collection of poems in 1916, it is reasonable to make the connection that the language used calls forth the rather restricted and constrained life of
Many people believe that this mimics Whitman's life. Living in a life of social separation much of the time, he still managed to succeed not only with his writing, but also in life itself. However, in line five Whitman goes on to say that he wonders how the tree could grow such joyous leaves while being alone. He himself says that he could not survive if put in the same situation. Whitman did however lead a joyous and happy life in many peoples opinion, even though he did not enjoy the social life many other had during his lifetime. His own opinion of himself not being lonely may be frayed in order to spare the image he proposes to the public in his writings. The next few lines are interesting because of the way they could possible spell out Whitman's life. In the poem, he breaks of a twig, wraps some moss around it, and takes it to he room and places it in plain view. This may parallel his life by way of his memory. The twig may represent pieces of his memory that were enjoyable to him. He then takes the twig and places it in his room signifying that he wants to be able to constantly see those fond memories. Again Whitman replies by saying he did not do this to remind him of his friends, but in reality he may have just said this to help keep a good report with his readers about his lifestyle.
As she is developing, she is tantalized by the societal norms he represents. She is ready to give up the backwoods (a symbol of herself) for all he (a symbol of society) has to offer. Convinced of that, she sets off to find the secret of the elusive white heron and in order to find the heron, she had to climb to what was literally the top of the world for her, the top of the pine tree. The world from the top was different than the city and it was different from the woods at ground level. From the top her perspective about the world changed, it was vast and awesome, and she understood her place in it more than before. She understood it to mean more than to sacrifice her own self for the gifts this man had to offer that were tantalizing but incapitable with her personality and true self.
Robert Herrick, an author from the 17th century enjoyed writing about intimacy and pleasure within his poems. The poem to be discussed throughout the paper is The Vine, by Robert Herrick, because of it’s rich metaphoric and symbolic aspect to love, pleasure, and dominance. Essentially the poem, The Vine, as a whole is a metaphor because the speaker has taken the form of a vine or tendril in the poem. The poem is about a man actually dreaming of a woman, Lucia. Lucia is referred to as dainty and the speaker describes her physical characteristics which helps the reader picture what is happening. Robert Herrick specifically uses certain words to express his love and feelings for Lucia. The simile in the poem that is most significant in its entirety is “And found (ah me!) this flesh of mine/More like a stock than like a vine” (22/23). In these lines, the speaker is waking up from his sexual dream. The speaker explains that he is feeling more of a stock than a vine. This is symbolic because the title of the poem is, The Vine, as the speaker has transformed himself into a vine in his dream. By saying he is feeling more like a stock can be interpreted as the growth has diminished and he can no longer love freely for a long time. His love for Lucia is hardening or ending. The physicality of the stock to a vine can also imply that he is waking up with an erection. The speaker is turned on by his dream and has woken up with the feeling of pleasure. These lines are extremely important to the entirety of the poem because it ends with the speaker waking up from his dream and the reader is aware of how he feels.
In the second stanza, the poem compares his love to a plant that does not bloom. The flowers are hidden deep within the plant. The text is expressing that while most would not appreciate a flower that does not bloom, the love described here goes far beyond that of anyone else’s. Inner beauty is admired. The narrator is not ashamed of his love. Yet, he feels as though he cannot compare her to anything of this world. He is entirely consumed by the spirit within her.