Twentieth Century Aesop’s Fables: How Ted Hughes Presents Modern Man through the Non-Human.

From hummingbirds nimbly flying over flowers to humming women quietly walking through the park, Brian Doyle’s essay, “Joyas Voladoras,” brings light to the power of choice in relation to human experience and emotion. Doyle displays this power of choice through vivid descriptions of two animals: a hummingbird and a blue whale, two seemingly different organisms. However, instead of focusing on the obvious disparities of the animals, Doyle concentrates on what makes them similar, the heart. Both the hummingbird and blue whale have hearts, but they use their hearts in drastically different ways, one heart being the smallest and another being the largest in the world. Contrary to the beliefs of science and evolution, Doyle believes that humans are not so different from these two creatures, because, “no living being is without interior liquid motion. We all churn inside” (3). Suddenly, the essay transforms from a National Geographic journal to a heartfelt message that connects all of the human race. Doyle dives into how the heart experiences so many emotions and ideas throughout a human life. Knowing that the heart is a delicate jewel, Doyle demonstrates that, “all hearts finally are bruised and scarred, scored and torn, repaired by time and will, patched by force of character, yet fragile and rickety forevermore” (3). Doyle understands that many individuals try to defend their hearts and protect them from any harm, but those hearts will eventually be hurt and injured in a

A part of the world around him, the opinions of others is a vital means by which Hall introduces the fisherman. Immediately present in “The Ledge” is the fisherman’s relationship with his wife, “She did not want him to go. It was Christmas morning.” (369). The wife’s reluctance to see her husband leave is indicative of their relationship and the caring man that the fisherman is— she wants Christmas, a day of joy and love, to be

In his final moment of clarity before his transformation, the narrator realizes, “I could have risen; I believe they would have embraced me. Instead, I behaved like an animal” (Torres 118). By using the metaphor of the animal, Torres finally reveals that the animal represents himself. He became a caricature of his father, encapsulating all of his greatest flaws -- his anger, his violence, his lack of vulnerability -- into the symbolism of the animal. As his family tries to put the narrator together again, he fights against them. He describes, “I chased them down into that love and challenged it -- you morons, you sick fucks, I bet you liked reading it, I bet it excited you” (Torres 118). The strong language demonstrates how while the narrator has grown older, he is still the immature child who followed his father’s every move. His inability to process their love shows how he has morphed into an animal, and the metaphor takes over, rearing its head and lashing out at those who love

In the poem there is also an idea of man verses nature, this relates to the survival of the fittest. John Foulcher shows this through the use of first person point of view. For example in the second stanza “Then above me the sound drops” this again possesses sensory imagery creating a deeper human aura throughout the poem. Foulcher further uses a human aura to build a sense of natural imagery for example in the last stanza : “I pick up these twigs and leave them” adding closure

Deep in the forest of Frederick Douglass’s autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, the caged bird sings on. The singing slaves in Douglass’s narrative are the caged birds of Maya Angelou’s famous poem, filling the air around them with desire: desire for a freedom so far out of reach—for “things unknown but longed for still.”

Ted Hughes is using his words to inform the painter in a way that describes everything else but the lily. The painter is on a mission to create a painted depiction of a water lily in a pond. Ted Hughes is very fond of nature as he mentions various aspects of nature to create many images in our minds. However, the main aspect of the poem is surprisingly not the flower; it was the dragonfly. The dragonfly appears for the second time in stanza 3. “First observe the air’s dragonfly That eats meat, that bullets by” . The dragonfly is mentioned in stanzas 2-7 because of its role it plays on the environment. The reader and the painter may wonder “What does the dragonfly have to do with the water lily?” but Hughes shows us how important it is the more you read into the poem.

In “Living Like Weasels,” Annie Dillard recalls an encounter with a weasel and connects the weasel’s tenacity to the human pursuit of one’s calling. In a forest, Dillard describes the encounter with the weasel when they lock eyes; she then explains what is inside of the weasel’s brain, his habits and traits. (MS7) She explains that a weasel’s living is one desire: instinct, a weasel’s tenacity to lock onto its prey and to not let go. Dillard then compares the weasel’s tenacity with the human calling; humans urge to understand their calling and refuse to quit until they have achieved their goal. Additionally, Dillard offers an exhortation to live in obedience to that calling. (MS6) As well as obedience, instinct requires the human capacity for reason.

Throughout Ted Hughes’ works his fascination with animals is vastly prevalent. During Hughes’ childhood his family moved to Mexborough when he was seven years old. The Hughes’ family resided in rural area. Hughes as well as his childhood friends would often interact with the animals within the community. He would capture birds, foxes, and fish for loaches. He developed a passion for animals at the early age of four when he was given a photographic book of animals on his fourth birthday. The book had descriptions of the animal’s history which was rather advanced for a young child. Hughes attempted to draw and copy the pictures within the book. He relished collecting living creatures, such as mice (Feinstein 8-9). In addition, with the influence of his brother Gerald Hughes, Ted Hughes had a desire for hunting and shooting animals, uncommon among the others that live in the village. According to London Times contributor Thomas Nye, Hughes once confessed “that he began writing poems adolescence, in his earlier years he had a passion for hunting animals, whether the animal was dead or trapped Hughes had an attraction to animals. He wanted to capture not just live animals, but the aliveness of animals in their nature state: their wildness, quiddity, the fox-ness of the fox and the crow-ness of the crow” (“Ted Hughes, Poetry”). In Hughes’ poems animals mirror mans’ inner turbulence. In his poem

The repetition of the word “fisher” or “fishing” mirror the hazardous menace of predators (3, 4, 11). While the fish are labeled the prey in this instance in the poem, the fishermen are commonly labeled the predator. Humanity is known in their role in any given ecosystem as the top of the food chain. This is explicated within the poem between the roleplay of the human hunting for the fish with all the necessary tools of a “fishing pole” (9) and

This can be linked to The Hunchback in the Park, where several pieces of evidence of animal imagery which have the same effect can be found. Examples of this include ‘Like the park birds he came early’ and ‘Through the loud zoo of the willow groves’. In addition, animals only communicate very basically, without the complexity that humans do. By referring to the two characters as animals in the poems, both poets exemplify how isolated the characters are from a normal society.

The two poems, Hawk Roosting and Golden Retrievals, by Ted Hughes and Mark Doty, portray the world in two entirely different ways from the eyes of a hawk and what can be assumed as a Golden Retriever. These authors use similar methods, such as stereotypes of the animals, to convey the speaker’s voice and build their characters as more than just an animal. These animals represent two different worlds, the hawk one of power and Christian faith while the dog represents servitude and a more meditation based faith. The Hawk in Hawk Roosting is developed as a very powerful animal and can be characterized by its predatorial habits.

The mood of “Caged Bird” changes drastically from stanza to stanza. Angelou’s specific diction choices help to reflect the change from being positive to negative with some elements of hope involved. The parts of the poem involving the free bird provide the reader with a feeling of self government.In contrast, the mood associated with the caged bird is confinment. Despite the negative mood tied to the caged bird there are still elements of hope woven into these stanzas.

The nobility of character of the old man prevents him from feel hate and rancor toward the other fishermen. Despite the taunts of the other fishermen, Santiago is quiet and admits having a bad streak of luck. This makes him an honorable man, which avoids any conflict and is able to recognize his flaws as a fisherman. Although the sea has given him several bitter drinks, he is able to keeping on loving it. “A man is honest when he acts honestly, he is humble when he acts humbly, he loves when he is loving or being loved.” (Waldmeir 165). Perhaps, the crowning act of humility in Santiago is when he is forced to recognize that by his own forces he will not be enough to grab the fish, and decides to carry out prayers to the Almighty. At the end of the hunting of the big animal, Santiago does not become conceited. His simple and humble soul thanks with a prayer for the outcome of his effort. Although the fighting has been severe and bloody, the old man was not self-styled "hero”. Santiago humbly considers himself as one fisherman more, and the categorization as a hero depends on the readers. “It is the knowledge that a simple man is capable of such decency, dignity, and even heroism, and that his struggle can be seen in heroic terms, that largely distinguishes this book.” (Young 131). The evident relation between his humility and dignity helps to place Santiago as a perfect

However, in the poem “Caged Bird” Maya Angelou characterizes the free and caged bird as, one bird symbolizing imprisonment and limitations while the other symbolizes freedom, which further develops the theme of inequality. The line “And dares to claim the sky” shows how unaware the free bird is and further develops the idea of its freedom. This piece of evidence shows how unaware the free bird is by exaggerating the extent of its freedom compared to the caged bird. In

William Blake used animals as basic building blocks for poems such as “The Lamb” and “The Tyger.” By using these carefully selected animals to depict good and evil, the reader truly understands Blake’s words. All readers can relate to animals such as an innocent lamb and a