Plath uses the simple tree and flower as manifestations of desire. Personification is heavily used to transform the tree and the flower from plants to people the narrator wants to become, and they are also used to emphasize the traits the narrator desires. The tree is fruit-bearing, stable, and peaceful. The narrator is upset that she lacks the tree’s ability to bear fruit, and the fruit represents achievement, and the lack of fruit represents the narrator’s discomfort at lacking achievement. Plath writes, “Sucking up minerals and motherly love / So that each March I may gleam into leaf,” (l.3; l.4) not only showing the emphasis personification creates, but the usage of the word “I” shows how the narrator is constantly wishing to be the tree …show more content…
The most important pieces of punctuation are the periods at the end of select lines. Periods are used to end thoughts, while commas at the end are used to indicate slight change in the thought. Using periods as dividers, the poem is divided into seven sections, all different but reinforce the ideas of insecurity, desire, isolation, and neglect. The first section, which is only line one, explains the narrator’s rejection of herself, which easily transitions to sections two and three. These two sections describe what she wants to be, first with the narrator becoming them, and then her comparing herself to them. Sections two and three explain the effect others have on insecurity because they represent the idealized version of her. Section four details her isolation, neglect, and invisibility to them. The setting of night, which represents darkness, offers a half-baked explanation to the narrator’s invisibility, however, the fact there is starlight shows that the trees and flowers are purposefully ignoring her. With this invisibility, her feelings snowball into neglect and isolation. Section five is similar to sections two and three; it is a repeat of her comparison to the trees and flowers. Section six is a reinforcement of her insecurities, and her out of placeness. Section seven is a detailed continuation of six, but the ending of section seven represents her insecurities and her neglect. Word pairings such as “useful... finally” (l.19) and “touch me for one...have time for me” (l.20) clearly demonstrate her hope that if she changes, she will be accepted by them. Plath’s usage of end punctuation creates an easy flowing cycle of insecurity; the insecurity is made known, the justification behind it is shown; it is then reiterated; and the narrator finally finds peace in the fantasy of being like the trees and the flowers. The constant
Each punctuation mark has a space before and after it. This differentiates from the regular use of punctuation. This use of punctuation slows the pace of the poem and makes clear where the reader should relax and slowly indulge into the poem. The irregular spacing of the poem is explained by the last lines of the poem, “over 100,000 people disappeared, leaving no solid clues, nor trace only, a space in the lives of their friends” (Reed 43-45). These last lines show that the spacing of the poem represents the spaces left in the lives of those who have lost loved ones.
Secondly, the author uses word choice to show the speakers overall sorrow. Throughout the whole poem there are word scattered everywhere that describe the general emotion of sorrow, some of those word being “restless” (19), “torment”, and “troubled” (4). These words instantly give the connotation of feelings like despair and sadness. The speaker also uses literary elements such as simile to express sorrow, like when she says “These troubles of the heart/ are like unwashed clothes” (27, 28). Everyday people usually do not pay much mind to unwashed clothes, and usually look at it as something unimportant or irrelevant. When the speaker compares her internal troubles to something that holds little importance to everyday life and is also seen as unpleasant, the readers really get a look into the sorrow and sadness that the speaker is truly feeling. The speaker also uses word choice to help show the readers the true intensity of what she is going through.
In this poem, symbolism is used to help reader’s find deeper meaning in the little things included and show that everything comes back to the father’s fear of the child he adores growing older and more independent. “In a room full of books in a world of stories, he can recall not one, and soon he thinks the boy will give up on his father.” This sentence makes a reader assume that the story the five year old so
Each part was broken up after a noticeable shift and atmospheric changes in the poem. The first part of the poem is during “Sad is the man...with one”(Ln 1-2), and repeats again at “In a room...on his father”(Ln 6-9). These lines create a shift into a narrative stage. It puts a pause on the poem to introduce or explain the scene in the poem. The narrative is important because it shows the point of view of the poem. The second shift is created with “Already the man...should never disappoint”(Ln 10-18). This shift is when the father is thinking about his fears and desires, to be more blunt, the father’s fantasies. It creates an unrealistic tone to the poem an shows the father’s dismay when he cannot remember a story for his son. The last shift begins with “His five-year-old...scratches his ear”(Ln 3-5), and ends with “But the boy...up to silence”(Ln 19-23). This shift bring the poem into reality. In fact the poem states that the “emotional rather than logical equation”(Ln 20) is where most people get confused and frustrated at the world. The poem also states the conflict of fantasy and reality. This conflict is what creates the the multiple shifts and the complicated relationship between the father 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 Pear tree symbolizes her initiation into womanhood whilst sitting under the tree. This was the feeling of initial inclination towards love and the sentiments of sexual yearning and affection.
One of two ways that the author’s use of dashes and unusual capitalization are used to contribute to my understanding of the theme of darkness in the poem is by having a dash after the word “dark” in the very first line of the poem it draws attention to the word, this is shown in the following excerpt “We grow accustomed to the Dark --” this is strengthened when in the second line, when the author chose to capitalize the word “when” before the phrase “…light is put away--” therefore, strengthening the theme of darkness. Another way that the author’s use of dashes and unusual capitalization are used to contribute to my understanding of the theme of darkness in the poem is by capitalizing the words “a” and “moment” they caused a sense of hesitation,
The use of symbolism and imagery is beautifully orchestrated in a magnificent dance of emotion that is resonated throughout the poem. The two main ideas that are keen to resurface are that of personal growth and freedom. Furthermore, at first glimpse this can be seen as a simple poem about a women’s struggle with her counterpart. However, this meaning can be interpreted more profoundly than just the causality of a bad relationship.
In the beginning of the passage, the author sets the scenery by saying Janie was sitting under a "blossoming pear tree" on a "spring" afternoon. The author emphasizes how important this pear tree is by using multiple examples of visual imagery. Hurston using "barren browns stems to glistening leaf-buds" to help the reader picture this nice blossoming pear tree that is in the backyard. Later on in the paragraph, the author uses personification to talk about the blossoming that Janie wants. She does this by writing "[the singing] followed her through all her waking moments." this portrays the blossoming as a song that follows Janie around.
Repetition is another key poetic device used in the poem, and considering its effect on the reader gives insight as to what the speaker may be emphasizing as significant. The word “dread” is repeated several times throughout the poem, specifically in lines 12 and 15. The Oxford English Dictionary defines it as “feared greatly…dreadful, terrible.” Because this word is used so many times, it draws the reader’s attention and contributes even more to the imagery of the Tyger. The repetition of the first stanza forms a sort of introduction and conclusion. The few differences between them get the reader’s attention and point out significant ideas that go along with the meaning of the poem. The comma in line 21 shows hesitation, and the colon in line 22 commands the attention of the Tyger as the speaker
Secondly the Pomegranate tree can be seen as a symbol of Amir and Hassan friendship, childhood innocence and shelter. The tree is presented to the reader in two different states. When the tree appears in the first part of the story, in chapter 4, the tree is shown as being fruitful and blooming with ‘blood red’
The speaker refers to the night as his acquaintance. This implies that the speaker has a lot of experience with the night, but has not become friends with it. Thus, because even the night, which has been alongside the speaker in comparison to anything or anyone else, is not a companion to the speaker, the idea of loneliness is enhanced. In addition, “rain” (2) is used to symbolize the speaker’s feelings of gloom and grief, because there is continuous pouring of the rain, which is unlikely to stop. In line 3, “city light” is used to convey the emotional distance between the speaker and society. Although the speaker has walked extensively, he has not yet interacted with anyone – thus distancing himself even further from society. Moreover, the moon, in lines 11 to 12, is used as a metaphor of the speaker’s feelings. The speaker feels extremely distant from society that he feels “unearthly.” The idea of isolation and loneliness in this poem is used as the theme of the poem; and the use of the setting and metaphors underscores the idea that the speaker feels abandoned from society.
significance of this section in the poem is the underlying relationship between what the narrater
The first landscape feature that is described are, “the tops of trees” (Chopin 203). Trees are commonly attributed to nature and the symbol of life. Although the author has attributed the trees in this story with the literary term personification, as the trees, “were all aquiver with the new spring life” (Chopin 203). The author has attributed the trees to movement as the protagonist begins to desire to be in the cycle of nature. The protagonist relates to the trees because the trees are no longer weighed down by the heavy snow, thus allowing the trees to grow again, which is similar to the protagonist, as she is no longer confined by her husband, but she desires to be rebirthed (Lucas). Consequently, the protagonist was learning her desires to participate in life as an independent individual and to have restrictions a memory in the past. Therefore, the protagonist is beginning to participate down the path of becoming
In the poem Plath is showing her hatred for her father. Plath uses tone to describes her strict, heartless father, but also describes him as “no less a devil” desperate to disremember him. Plath also uses Symbolism to show the distastes she has for her father. In the Poem she compares her father to Hitler stating “I have always been afraid of you, with your Luftwaffe, your gobbledygoo . And your neat mustache and your Aryan eye, bright blue. Panzer-man, panzer-man” (41-45). This shows that her father was an authoritarian who showed little to no feeling and love toward her. Another example of symbolism is when Plath compares herself to a Jew. She was explaining that her life was like she was in a concentration camp “chuffing me like a Jew. A Jew to Dachau, Auschwitz, Belsen. I began talking like a Jew, I think that I might as well be a Jew” (32-34).