Diving Into The Wreck Poem

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Diving into the Wreck Adrienne Rich uses diving into a shipwreck as an extended metaphor for a desire for knowledge and power. The author also uses imagery to allude to elements of loneliness and transformation. As the diver is preparing to enter the water, he or she, first reads “The book of myths.” [Line 1] The diver reads this book in quest of knowledge and guidance; however, they know nothing is gained if they do not experience the wreck for themselves. The author states, “The thing I came for: the wreck and not the story of the wreck the thing itself and not the myth.” [lines 61-63] This quote explains why they have to go diving to see the wreck first hand. In addition, the speaker references loneliness a series of times in this poem.

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