If everyone in the world had the same personality, life would be boring. What makes everyone different from each other are the experiences that one has been to exposed to in their lifetime. Each unique experience helps mold one into the person that they have become today. In the poem, The Layers by Stanley Kunitz, the poet brings forth the point that people change due to their experiences. In an one stanza, 44 lined free verse poem, Kunitz explores his point by exploring four main themes. Through the themes of transformation, time, death, and isolation, Kunitz makes the point that people are constantly growing and changing throughout their lifetime.
The first theme Kunitz explores is transformation. Kunitz begins his poem on how he has changed as a person from his past. In the opening lines of the
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poem, Kunitz wrote, “ I have walked through many lives, /some of them my own, /and I am not who I was” (lines 1-3). Kunitz establishes the fact that he was an older man when the poem was written because he claimed to have “walked through many lives” meaning that he has experienced a considerable amount in his time. He also mentions how some of the ‘lives’ are his and how he is no longer the same person he was in his previous lives. The first three lines give a sense of his change over time due to his experiences. Kunitz continues on to explain the new transformation he is currently going through. For an example, he wrote, “Yet I turn, I turn, / exulting somewhat, / with my will intact to go / wherever I need to go” (lines 26-29). Kunitz uses the word ‘turn’ in relation to his life. He wants to make a full change in his life so, he compares his life to an object that spins because each time an object turns, a new perspective on the object can be seen. This is similar to Kunitz’s life since everytime he turns, he makes changes to get a new perspective on life. Moreover, he is looking forward to this transformation since the phrases ‘exulting’ and ‘with my will intact to go’. Exulting means to be happy and intact means entire or whole, so, Kunitz is inferring that he is happy to change who is now and will make this change wholeheartedly. The poem concludes with the lines, “no doubt the next chapter /in my book of transformations / is already written / I am not done with my changes” (lines 41-44). The author uses a simile to compare his life to a book. His entire life is split into chapters, each chapter is about a different transformation he has undergone and the next chapter is the newest transformation that he is going to delve into. Through the theme of transformation, Kunitz explains how he has gone through many changes in life. In addition to the theme of transformation, Kunitz uses the theme of time to prove people change. The author uses time as a measurement of change in his life. Early on in the poem, the author wrote, “When I look behind, /as I am compelled to look /before I can gather strength /to proceed on my journey,” (lines 7-10). He ‘looks behind’ in reference to time. Kunitz looks behind at his past to reflects on his experiences. He reflects on past experiences to see how he has grown and ensures that he will not make the same mistakes in the future; implying his next transformation. The next two lines that follow also imply him reflecting on the past, “I see the milestones dwindling /toward the horizon” (lines 11-12). A milestone is an object set on the side of the road to mark a distance. In context of the poem, Kunitz uses milestones to highlight significant life events. By his life events shrinking due to the increase in distance, these events are becoming less important to him as he moves forward with his life. The theme of time is used to prove that people are able to change if they leave their past behind. The theme of death is used to explain how loss impacts life. Kunitz explores the idea of death when describing the campsites. He describes the campsites as, “... the slow fires trailing / from the abandoned camp-sites/ over which scavenger angles / wheel on heavy wings” (lines 13-16). The slowly dying fire at these campsites are symbols of old important places to the author. By him abandoning these old places, he creates a dour tone, but it is necessary that he abandons these places to move forward. If he takes these places with him into the future, he will not be able to change who he is. In addition to the dying fires, he includes the symbol of angels. Angels are associated with deceased loved ones; they usually guard and protect those who have passed. In this situation, the angels are protecting these places from changing for him. These angles are also ‘scavenger angels’ so they are going through these places and picking out the lessons learned at these places to bring with him to the future. Kunitz also mentions death in terms of his friends. His friends have passed figuratively, “The manic dust of my friends, / those who fell along the way, / bitterly stings my face” (lines 23-25). His friends have become victims of the same hardship in the transformation that he is facing. They were not able to leave the past behind, so they have not grown. The author now has the choice to continue on without them or to follow his friends. The author chose to continue his journey without his friends and finds himself in isolation.
He describes his isolation as, “When the moon was covered / and I roamed through wreckage” (lines 34-35). The moon as a metaphor for his emotional standpoint. The moon was covered, not giving any light which means that he was feeling depressed. Moreover, light is a symbol of guidance, and there was no guidance for him. He had to continue on with his change at an all-time low. However, he did not stay in a low emotional point for long, he had heard, ‘a nimbus - clouded voice / directed me: / ‘live in the layers, / not on the litter “ (lines 35-38). The voice that was heard from the clouds, is God because God is watching from above. God was the one who had helped Kunitz come out from his emotional low by giving him advice. His advice to Kunitz declared that he needs to ‘live in the layers’, live and focus on the important aspects of life and ‘not the litter’. Litter is debris that covers the surface, superficial and toxic objects in life. God is telling him that he needs to ignore the litter in his life because it is the only thing holding him back from moving on and
changing. The author, Stanley Kunitz, was able to make his point that people grow and change over time through the themes of transformation, time, death and isolation. The road to changing as a person is not easy, one faces many obstacles that will prevent them from moving forward. Despite these obstacles, one can move forward when they are able to leave the past behind.
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In this poem there is much evidence that expresses his loneliness, solitude, and isolation to the rest of the world at that moment in his life.