On March 31,1936, American poet, Social Activist and novelist, Margaret Piercy was welcomed into the world. Born into a working class family in Detroit, Michigan, Piercy grew up with her mother and grandmother who appear frequently in her literary works. In her teenage years Piercy became rebellious and put a strain on the relationship she had with her mother. Luckily, a few years before her mother's death in 1981 she was able to rekindle the flame and make peace before her mother's passing. Working to earn a Ph.D at the University of Michigan and some at Northwestern, Piercy decided to leave her schooling behind forever and pursue her love of poetry. Since this decision she has been writing full time and going all around the world to teach …show more content…
Even though there is no rhyme or meter in the poem, it still uses symbolism in a way that portrays the story well. By the use of these devices it gives the poem a very raw and real feel. Before the reader even glances at the first line, there is symbolism in the title. The title, “Barbie Doll” automatically makes the reader think plastic and perfect. Society expects women to look this way and it is close to impossible. The poem is comprised of two examples of imagery. The first one appears at the end of the second stanza, “Everyone saw a fat nose on thick legs” (11). The second example comes from the third stanza, “So she cut off her nose and her legs” (17). The imagery creates a very realistic picture in the reader's mind and even creates a certain smell, touch, and sound as one reads. The next piece of figurative language is a simile. “Her good nature wore out / like a fan belt (15-16). The young girls good nature was compared to a fan belt, letting the reader know she is tired and worn down. In the last stanza of the poem Piercy writes that the young girl has died, creating an immense amount of irony. “In the casket displayed on satin she lay / with the undertakers cosmetics painted on, / a turned- up putty nose,” (19-21). Although the readers are unsure of how she died, some conclusions can be drawn that she has perished from going under anesthesia due to plastic surgery. Irony really comes into play in the last line of the poem, “To every woman a happy ending” (25). The death of this young girl is considered a happy ending, she has finally given into society's standards and lost herself. Piercy uses symbolism in a very useful way that gives the poem an interesting perspective on how society makes a person
There are multiple examples of visual imagery in this poem. An example of a simile is “curled like a possum within the hollow trunk”. The effect this has is the way it creates an image for the reader to see how the man is sleeping. An example of personification is, “yet both belonged to the bush, and now are one”. The result this has is how it creates an emotion for the reader to feel
In both poem “ Barbie Doll” by Merge Piercy and “ homage to my hips” by Lucille Clifton, they both expressed the different way on how our society wants us, women to look and act in order to be except into the society. Our society condemned any women who are to act differently from our norms. In this society and in every culture aspect they are always stereotype, women always been taking advantage of no matter what century we are on. In “Barbie Doll” the author tend to provide more effective critique of society expectation about our body image than “homage to my hips”.
Author, Marge Piercy, introduces us to a young adolescent girl without a care in the world until puberty begins. The cruelty of her friends emerges and ultimately she takes her own life to achieve perfection in “Barbie Dolls” (648). At the time when all children are adjusting to their ever changing bodies, the insults and cruelties of their peers begin and children who were once friends for many years, become strangers over night caught in a world of bullying. A child who is bullied can develop severe depression which can lead to suicide; and although schools have been educated in recognizing the signs of bullying, there is an epidemic that has yet to be fully addressed within our schools or society.
Imagery is a grandiose part of this poem, simile’s help the reader to comprehend the enhanced pace fast break of this poem. (L.6) “gathering the orange leather from air a cherished possession” gives the reader an image of just how essential the ball is, and that he is control of the situation. Whenever I get a chance to get a rebound like he did, I take it. It is a feeling of hard work pays off when you get the chance to get a rebound. Another example of a simile, (L.18) “ in slow motion , almost exactly like a coach’s drawing on a blackboard’
It is ironic in the sense that her shortest lines in the poem contradict each other. She discussed the letter in the mail, and then discussed the phone she is using and how she needs to put it down. The sentence “I had the idea” also adds to the thought that in her world, people are thinking using the mind that was wonderfully created without the help of technology. In a busy world of words and moments happening so fast, these short sentences appeal to the readers by letting us take in the words one by one. The purpose of her using these short, easy to understand sentences is to emphasize the idea that these are the little things that we need to most appreciate.
Throughout her transformation, she does not only lose her unwanted body parts but also herself. She was “born as usual.” She was “healthy.” She was “intelligent.” Yet, she “offered” her body and became an object for others to point and critique at. Upon the judgments that are harshly thrown at the poor child, “her good nature [was] worn out/like a fan belt.” The poet creates this simile and the tone of insecurity to show that over a long period of time she is no longer able to take in any more criticism. She cannot be “apologizing” any more for how she is. Thus, she conforms to the ways of society by having pieces of her cut off. She becomes a doll, an object that does not live life and that is easily wielded and manipulated by others. This child takes her own freedom away, a freedom that Louise from Chopin’s work strives
In Marge Piercy’s, “Barbie Doll,” we see the effect that society has on the expectations of women. A woman, like the girl described in ‘Barbie Doll’, should be perfect. She should know how to cook and clean, but most importantly be attractive according to the impossible stereotypes of womanly beauty. Many women in today’s society are compared to the unrealistic life and form of the doll. The doll, throughout many years, has transformed itself from a popular toy to a role model for actual women. The extremes to which women take this role model are implicated in this short, yet truthful poem.
Imagery is a key part of any poem or literary piece and creates an illustration in the mind of the reader by using descriptive and vivid language. Olds creates a vibrant mental picture of the couple’s surroundings, “the red tiles glinting like bent plates of blood/ the
Every woman grows up knowing that they one day want to be beautiful. In Marge Piercy’s “Barbie Doll” she gives an in depth look at what negative effects the concept of beauty can have on an individual. From infancy to a full grown adult woman, beauty has been a way of thinking and lifestyle. As a little girl you are given petite shaped, blonde, blue eyed dolls. While boys are given brawny soldiers and mechanical toys.
In the beginning of “Barbie Doll”, pleasurable and unpleasurable imagery is given so that the reader can see the extremes girls go through to be considered perfect.
For instance, “ The air held a keenes that made her nose twitch” that is an example of imagery. This line makes the reader visualize or imagine a picture of their head of exactly what she is describing. It also has a lot of nature and natural earth. The author makes the reader visualize a lot of nature and mother earth.
An example of imagery is “But the boys weight and the weight of the purse combined caused him to lose his balance so, instead of taking off full blast as he had hoped, the boy fell on his back on the sidewalk, and his legs flew up. The large woman simply turned around and kicked him right in his blue-jeaned sitter.” He uses this style to make us see what he did when writing it.
The connotation that comes with a barbie doll is what the ideal women should aim for, perfect, attractive, pretty, happy. The two meaning of “Barbie Doll” have a drastic shift, as a doll that is a toy which a child can use to entertain themselves with, but a “Barbie Doll” can be understood as idealist due the expectations that women should live up to mimic the doll closely and manipulative showing girls what a ideal women should be and should only care about looks. These dolls are aimed to a “Girl Child”, we understand that the phrase is referring to a young adolescent female child.
Another rhetorical strategy incorporated in the poem is imagery. There are many types of images that are in this poem. For example, the story that the young girl shares with the boy about drowning the cat is full of images for the reader to see:
The line "The news like squirrels ran" is an example of a simile as it uses 'like' to compare the squirrels running in speed. This simile is a great addition to the poem as it helps add to the overall meter of the poem. An example of personification is present in the line "The steeples swam and the the hills untied their bonnet" as it adds human like characteristics to the steeples and the hills. This personification helps make the story more interesting and enjoyable to the reader rather then using normal, plain words. An allusion is present in the line "The steeples swam in amethyst" as a steeple is a religious reference.