Fear And Fame Philip Levine

In the poem “Fear and Fame by Philip Levine, readers gain insight into the struggles of a blue collar worker. The intimate description of the worker not only highlights the dangerous and monotonous work he performs but also accentuates how the worker takes little pride in his occupation. Levine’s use of meter and rhythm, irony, figurative language, and tone provide an understanding of the difficulties faced by blue-collar individuals both at work and in society. The majority of the lines contain a sort of syllabic meter, which evokes a lulling sense of monotony as the speaker describes his work. However, the unusual meter of the final two lines pulls the reader from this lull and forces them to focus on Levine’s message, “from the other world

This irony tells the reader that the worker completed his dangerous tasks with little dignity or purpose. This is seen early in the poem as he dresses for work, “gauntlets to the elbow, a plastic helmet / like a knight’s” (2-3). Comparing his work to that of important occupations like this shows that not even the speaker himself respects what he does. In addition, the speaker also refers to himself as “the adventurer” and “fully armored,” which reinforces the lack of respect the man has for himself and his work. Levine further advanced this theme by using the adjective “cooked” to describe the pickling tank full of chemicals, as if to make the purpose of his work sound meaningful (35). This heavy use of irony makes it apparent that the speaker has little respect for his work and its

After dressing for work, the speaker “would descend / step by slow step into the dim world / of the pickling tank” (5-7). Comparison of the pickling tank to a “dim world” reveals that there is nothing enjoyable about the work he does. As he climbs back out “with a message / from the kingdom of fire,” the reader gains a better understanding of the poor working conditions of the speaker (20-21). Equating his working conditions to such a terrible place shows that these factory workers should have been thankful to even make it out of work alive each day. The matter-of-fact tone of the speaker tells the reader that he understand the peril and monotony of his occupation. However, he knows that it is still a job he must do. After going through the motions of reassuming his identity during his short break, the speaker starts everything back over, “then to arise and dress again in the costume / of my trade for the second time that night” (41-42). Even after all of the horrible things described up until this point of the poem, the speaker still expresses no animosity towards his current situation. It is simply a means of making a