Emily Dickinson's 465: Symbolism

When one observes the beauty of something, they may tend to want to cling to its being. Everyone enjoys beauty, but there also needs to be an appreciation of ugliness as well. The beautiful and the ugly are not opposites from one another, but features of the same thing. Beauty, however one defines it, is not necessarily attractive, and ugliness is not always distasteful. Tastes differ and the tendencies of taste go back and forth. This truth is so irritating that many assumptions about art are immediately and disastrously sabotaged. If everything were beautiful, nothing would be. There is beauty in all things, even death for those who will allow God to be a guiding force in their existence. The Christian view considers death a beginning, not an end,

The Christian view does not only change one’s focus, but it also changes how we perceive life in general. Facing death means that we are able to face the ultimate question of the meaning of life. Dickinson’s poem 465 is interesting, but also gruesome because it transforms a small, disregarded fly into the figure of death itself. It is interesting to see that the fly’s wing cuts the speaker off from the light until she cannot “see to see.” The fly is a minor character that does not gain any future power or importance, and its final disconnecting act is performed “With Blue—uncertain stumbling Buzz—.” One could also assume that this fly could potentially represent the speaker’s inability to hold onto their spirituality, faith, or hope, while in the process of facing death. The speaker may succeed in willing away their possessions, but they appear distracted by the idea that not all of them are “assignable”, and this potentially means their spirit or soul. According to Michael Ryan, this fly stands between the speaker and the “light.” The poem does not really state that all hope is lost, especially since the speaker has the ability to write a poem