“Manipulation, fueled with good intent, can be a blessing. But when used wickedly, it is beginning of a magician’s karmic calamity.” -T.F. Hodge. Manipulation can be defined as influencing someone with indirect, deceptive, or abusive tactics. Manipulation may seem friendly or flattering, as if the person is only thinking about the other person’s best interest, but in reality it is to achieve their satisfaction. In Margaret Atwood’s poem “Siren Song”, allusion to Greek mythology, alluring repetition, didactic statements, and shift in tone: from enticing to destructive, leads the reader to believe that manipulation leads to destruction. One element Atwood utilizes throughout this poem is allusion to Greek mythology. The siren is a mythological creature that was half woman and half bird. The sirens were beautiful but deadly, as they “forces …show more content…
men to leap overboard” (Atwood lines 4-5) from its beautiful singing, ending with the men jumping to their death. In the story of Odysseus, the men become smart and learn to plug their ears with wax in order to not fall captive of the enticing song leading them to not know the song itself “others can’t remember” (Atwood line 9). Another crucial detail in Greek mythology was that the sirens would always be in groups of three showing to be evident in the poem, “singing this trio” (Atwood lines 17-18). Alluding to Greek mythology exhibits the enticing aspects of the poem. Since the siren is such a beautiful creature, who would not be lured in, especially men? It shows how the sirens are the manipulators, getting its prey to do whatever it wants and even come straight to them, which will be their doom, demonstrating the destructive characteristic of the sirens. The sirens manipulate the reader by incorporating alluring repetition. Throughout the entire poem Atwood repeats the word you six times, and they are all packed into the fourth and fifth stanzas which are already only three lines. When the author repeats “only to you” (Atwood line 20), it engages the reader and makes them feel like they are the only one who will ever be able to hear what the siren song it, it makes them feel very special. She also says, “only you can, you are unique” (Atwood lines 23-24) this solidifies the idea of making the reader feel important showing how enticing the siren is to anyone that meets it. Atwood also includes two phrases that mean the same thing but are from different time periods, “at last. Alas” (Atwood line 25). Once the siren is able to convince the reader/vitctim to let her sing the song, her game is over. At last she has enticed the reader enough and alas her deed is done. The repetition creates repeated attempts for the siren to further entice the reader/listener to fall for her evil tricks. The siren is able to hypnotize her victims by utilizing didactic statements.
With a didactic statement the reader is giving direction, or taught a lesson. “Shall I tell you the secret…” (Atwood line 10). The siren first attempts to get the reader, or man, to feel the power of knowing the siren song, giving off the enticing tone of this piece. As she has him hooked on wanting to know more, “Come closer.” (Atwood line 21) the siren prompts her next victim to come to her for her convenience. Also, so there is little chance of the victim to escape her song. “Help me! Only you…” (Atwood lines 22-23) the siren acts as if she is a damsel in distress so the men can feel like they are making a difference, who would not want to be a hero? She also makes it personal by saying that one person is the only one who can actually help this, although this may not be true but the men fall for it anyways. Coinciding with the repetition of you to be able to please the person and what they want. Leading back to the theme of manipulation, this demonstrates how the siren is toying with them and getting them exactly where she wants
them. The theme of manipulation is exemplified through a tonal shift throughout the poem. Atwood begins the poem with an enticing feel. Starting off with “the song that is irresistible” (Atwood lines 2-3), this instantly pulls the reader in, wanting to know more. Just like in the poem “Secrecy”, everyone wants to know something that no one else may know. The need to know things is apart of human nature and there is no escaping it. Leading next with, “I don’t enjoy singing this trio, fatal and valuable.” (Atwood lines 17-18). This is the siren’s plea to the man that she wants help, how she does not like it, but can the reader really trust this side of her? The idea of her actually feeling bad is contradicted in this quote, she says fatal meaning that the person she is luring in will soon be doomed, as she has stated previously how she does not like this aspect. Also, valuable which shows how secretly she does this for her pure pleasure, enjoying it. Lastly, “it is a boring song but it works every time.” (Atwood lines 26-27). This exhibits that she even thinks it is boring, she only does it to see the men fall for it and to kill them. Showing the destructive tone that Atwood ends the poem with. As stated previously, Atwood incorporates allusion to Greek mythology, alluring repetition, didactic statements, and a shift in tone throughout the poem “Siren Song”. The tone begins as enticing to draw the reader in, then as the person is seduced by her song, it turns to a destructive tone leading to the victim’s death. All of these elements work together to show the idea that manipulation leads to destruction.
of 4 line stanzas. It has a traditional rhyme scheme consisting of ABAB CDCD EFG EFG. It is interesting in the fact that 4 of the rhymes aren't perfect: "push" "rush" and "up" "drop." The poem starts out aggressive and ends in a passive tone. Words used to describe Leda directly were: "the staggering girl" "her thighs" "her nape" "her helpless breast" and "her loosening thighs." An indirect word describing Leda is "terrified vague fingers." Indirect words used to describe the swan indirectly were: "great wing" "dark webs" "that white rush" "blood" "indifferent beak" "feathered glory." Direct terms used to describe the swan were "wings" "bill" and "beak." The swan was never actually called Zeus or even the swan in the poem. Agamemnon was the only name to be mentioned in the poem.
In Homer's Odyssey and Margaret Atwood's Siren Song, Sirens are portrayed as creatures that trick men. Homer and Atwood use imagery, point of view, and diction to convey the image of the deceitful Sirens.
Furthermore,the Sirens are portrayed as underprivileged. In the siren song it declares,”This song is a cry
In the epic poem the "Odyssey" by Homer, there are creatures known as sirens. These creatures lure people to their death by singing a song in which they make a person follow what the sirens say. In the "Siren Song" by Margret Atwood, she writes the song and how she interprets it using modern English. The two literary works portray the Sirens similarly in tone and differently in point of view. The Sirens in the "Odyssey" seem dark and evil due to the author's choice of words or diction.
One part of the book where manipulation is used is on page 9 when Obie is talking to Archie and he couldn't say what he wanted to say as shown here -You couldn't win an argument with Archie. He was too quick with his words.- This supports the theme of manipulation because in an argument if you can say your thoughts on a subject then you get downsized and and you don't feel as strong about your perspective on the subject than you did before. Another part of the book where manipulation is shown is on page 48 and it says -You could take a kids lunch money and nothing happens because kids wanted peace at any price.- This text proves manipulation is a main theme because if you take a kids lunch money and nothing happens because they want peace this shows that the kids in this book are willing to pay money for peace instead of fighting for what's right.
Renee Stout’s “Tales of the Conjure Woman,” currently on exhibition at Spelman College’s Cosby Hall, puts on display the culturally mysterious nature of African folklore. In the exhibition, Stout presents with utter brilliance the depth of the culture through her artistic manifestation of ceremonial traditions, magical hoodoo, and spell-related practices. In her works, Stout uses a unique personification, an alter ego of sorts, named Fatima Mayfield, to explore the African folkloric world of which her exhibition represents. Ranging from simple recipes to intricate descriptions of the aforementioned magical practices, Stout takes on her work with her alter ego in an attempt to demonstrate both the past and contemporaneous dimensions of her work. Additionally, it would seem as if Fatima exists as a sort of special source of understanding and clarity for Stout given her vast knowledge and countless abilities. The exhibition is home to various pieces that allow one to “jump inside the pages” and interact with Stout’s rendition of the African folkloric community.
Margaret Atwood wrote and published “Siren Song” in 1974. The poem vividly describes a siren singing a song about a different song, which is irresistible to men. The siren narrating the poem cunningly pretends to sing a harmless song that is actually the irresistible song that she sings about (Nada). The siren wishes to tempt the reader into coming closer to her and feigns helplessness and distress in order to lure the reader onto her island. The siren also compliments the reader in order to coerce them to come closer. Despite the siren’s clearly dark intentions the poem has a somewhat lighter undertone creat...
Sirens: the dangerous, yet beautiful majestic creatures of the sea, who led nearby sailors to shipwreck with their enchanting voices. Some say voices can’t entice people enough to lead them overboard to their death, but those people have not had the dreadful pleasure of coming in contact with the dangerously, scary sirens. Those who have read Homer’s text, “The Odyssey,” know how dangerous these creatures can be. As evidenced from Homer’s text, sirens have many strengths, they do many things to show strengths also, and finally, as shown in the text, it's obvious they play the role as antagonists.
...his manipulation of people’s knowledge creates a mindless society, so manipulation is a method Bradbury uses to convey his warning. By presenting the theme of manipulation and lies Orwell and Bradbury exhibit their warnings about society.
...g of the Sirens and end up as one of the corpses in their “meadow.” The Sirens have the power to “spellbind any man alive” with their “high, thrilling songs” and preventing them from ever making it home. A man lured by the Sirens will never see his wife or “happy children” again. His story will be over, and he will be lost forever. The Greeks rely on their story and legacy to retain their identity and memory after death. The Sirens represent distractions that lure travellers from their journey and decrease or completely remove their determination to return home. When a man stays true to his purpose and avoids any Siren-like distractions, he lives and comes home to a wonderful family. When a man makes himself susceptible to any Siren’s call, be it from an actual Siren or just something tempting enough to sway him from his task, he is destined to fail and be forgotten.
The dialogue a narrator uses with characters in a short story reflects on how the story is being understood by the reader. A character’s dialogue is assumed to be controlled by the author, and then the reader comprehends the dialogue through different points of view in which is told by a narrator. Which point of view the author uses can change how the reader may understand the story. Understanding a story is not just based off the ability to comprehend the plot, setting, characters, and theme. But importantly, understanding what point of view the narrator is in and whether the narrator has dialogue with characters within the story is important. The short story “Lusus Naturae”, written by Margaret Atwood, it’s a short story told by a first person narrator who is a main character in the story but has very minimum dialogue with the other characters. Another short story, “Sonny’s Blues”, written by James Baldwin, is
The power of manipulation is a very powerful tool and can easily be misused to benefit
In The Taming of the Shrew, the concept of love is a means of emotional manipulation, and manipulation is nothing more than a means of control between men and women. William Shakespeare critiques the patriarchal social structure by ironically employing the manipulative stance Petruchio takes towards winning Katherine as his wife by charming her with words and manipulating her psychologically, and then taming her after their marriage through legal, physical, financial, and psychological control and manipulation. Though Petruchio may think he yields power over his wife, Katherine uses obedience as a tool of manipulation and has the control of the household, as can be seen by her ironic speech at the end of the play, where she claims women must serve their men. Shakespeare uses the irony of a man using manipulation as a tool for control to magnify the significance of the power women yield through manipulation, thus proving that men and women engage in a power-shifting struggle.
Within the second stanza the clouds in the sky are compared to the “earth’s decaying leaves” (16) and the “Angels of rain and lightning” (18) are a fusion of both a guardian and a killer. The third stanza extends the power and presence of the West Wind allowing it to penetrate the depths of the Atlantic Ocean which causes the “sea-blooms” and “oozy woods” (39) to shed their “sapless foliage of the ocean” and to “despoil themselves.” (40, 42) This compares the sea-leaves to the earthbou...
Manipulation is used in nearly every endeavor encountered throughout an average day. Things ranging from day to day commercials all the way to political campaigns are using concealed techniques of manipulation influencing the everyday actions of the public. Leaving any person with access to the world, vulnerable to manipulation. Webster dictionary defines manipulation as, “to control or play upon by artful, unfair, or insidious means especially to one 's own advantage”. Meaning that anyone can come to be skilled in the art of manipulation, even children. Stories such as Night, Lord of the Flies, and The Picture of Dorian Gray are evidence of the disastrous effects of manipulation on the physical state, relationships, mental