Summary Of The Vacuum By Howard Nemerov

The death of a loved one can often cause a stillness in time. In his poem “The Vacuum,” Howard Nemerov uses a variety of poetic devices in order to portray a husband’s struggle to cope with his wife’s death. Through the use of symbolism, the speaker is able to portray a common household item, a vacuum, as being a physical reminder of his dead wife. The speaker, a widower, also personifies the vacuum and his heart in order to express his sorrow. The poem uses symbolism and personification in order to show how death seems to stop the passage of time.

The speaker uses the vacuum as a symbol throughout the poem. In the beginning, the vacuum is an object used for cleaning the house. The speaker says, “The house is so quiet now / The vacuum cleaner

sulks in the corner closet” (1-2). The house is silent because the vacuum cleaner is not being used. Since the wife was the one who cleaned the house, the intended use of the vacuum has died alongside with her. The speaker now uses this vacuum to symbolize his wife. He claims, “When my old women died her soul / Went into that vacuum cleaner” (7-8). The vacuum symbolizes the wife because she loved to clean the house. The husband no longer wants to use the vacuum to clean because of the memories associated with the vacuum and his wife. By refusing to use the vacuum for its intended purpose, the speaker shows how the object now represents the impact his wife’s death has had on every aspect of his life. The use of symbolism contributes to the idea that death stops the passage of time because despite the wife not being there physically, the man is surrounded by memories of her that he is unable to remove.

Throughout the poem, the husband personifies the vacuum and his emotions. In the beginning of the poem, the speaker describes the vacuum as being close to death. He says, “Its bag limp as a stopped lung, its mouth / Grinning into the floor” (3-4). The speaker is ironically bringing the vacuum to life only to show how it’s dying from becoming useless. The vacuum has stopped breathing and is laying on the floor, much like the husband’s dead wife in her grave. Since the wife is no longer there to clean, the husband does not want to use the vacuum in fear that it will remove her presence from the house. The speaker also personifies his own heart. The husband explains, “And still the hungry, angry heart / Hangs on and howls, biting at air” (14-15). By personifying his heart, the speaker expresses his sorrow and anger. By portraying his heart as being an angry animal, the speaker shows how he is causing himself pain by surrounding himself with her possessions. The use of personification contributes to the idea of death stopping the passage of time because the lingering memories of the wife prevent the speaker from being able to move on with his life.

The idea that death causes a stillness in time is portrayed in the poem through the use of symbolism and personification. Throughout the poem, the vacuum functions as an object itself as well as a symbol for the man’s dead wife. By personifying the vacuum, the husband shows how his wife’s death has affected every aspect of his life. The husband also personifies his heart in order to express the pain he feels without her. The use of symbolism and personification shows how the impact that the wife’s death has had on the speaker’s life and how he is unable to move on. By concentrating on the stillness of time, the speaker allows the audience to reflect on the emotional impacts caused by death.