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The Dangers Of The Polar Ice Caps

Decent Essays

The world is in trouble, we were given an entire planet and we are slowly killing it; this is demonstrated to us in Sharon Olds’ “Geography”. Thanks to an increase in our carbon emissions, we have started global warming. The polar ice caps are melting, while more and more animals are joining the endangered species list. Poverty is an ever present danger; people are living in squalor on the streets. The percentage of the population that is homeless is only increasing; these people are going hungry and cannot help themselves. This can be caused by or lead to substance abuse. In order to cope with the situation they are in, whether it is homelessness or just the struggle for life, they turn to mind splitting and body numbing substances. This only creates more problems like increasing their own poverty, and causing them to do things they would not normally do. Olds uses intense imagery to show us the diseases we are suffering from; while biblical allusions show her desire for the world to be destroyed and recreated better than before. The speaker is talking about the end of the world and is looking back at the journey that was taken to get to this point. Olds draws a few things to our attention starting with poverty and homelessness. Olds brings up poverty and homelessness by saying “the woman dressed in newspapers” (16-17). The lady is in a situation where she can no longer afford clothing; instead she must cover herself in newspapers forgoing modesty. Olds uses the image of

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