A Blame Artist The poem “Woodchucks” written by Maxine Kumin seems to be about the “speaker” in the poem attempting justify her actions, but it is actually about her blaming the woodchucks for bringing her out the desire to kill the woodchucks, the so called “Hunter.” If the the poem was supposedly about her justification of her actions, she would have talk more about the process of her trying to keep the woodchucks away from her garden and how she had to use the last method although she allegedly didn’t want. But she started with gassing the woodchucks out and was blaming the woodchucks for their actions till the end of the poem. Right from the beginning, it poem seemed pretty dark. The speaker was already talking about gassing the little woodchucks. It shows the hatred she had toward the woodchucks rather clearly. It goes on with her talking about the “humane” methods she had use to drive the woodchucks away but did not work -- “Next morning they turned up again”(Kumin 15). This was probably the trigger that made her begins her monstrous actions. …show more content…
When trying the gas the woodchucks was proven ineffective, she tries to find a different method.
Given to the numerous methods she has already used, fused with her angers of no being able to drive them out, made her come to a decision of “eliminating” the woodchucks. What was surprising was that she wasn’t sympathetic with the death of woodchucks, rather, she felt amused and thrilled -- “......righteously thrilling to the feel of the .22, the bullets’ neat noses” (Kumin 15). If she had thought her actions were one bit cruel, she wouldn’t have used this kind of words that make one form an image of her enjoying her actions in their
head. Then later in the poem, she claim to be a person with a great, understanding heart-- “I, a lapsed pacifist fallen from grace” (Kumin 15). But apparently, the woodchucks were what drove her insane. If it was the case, if she was who she claimed she was, she shouldn’t have come to feel the joy of eliminating the woodchucks. Even though one may hate others so much, be it an animal or human, it is only normal that one would freaked out when they are killed except psychos which is totally different from her professed description of herself. The poem went on about her taking the inhumane actions. She said she drew a bead on the little woodchuck’s face, dropped its mother 10 minutes later, and hunted the old woodchuck the whole night. All of these actions doesn’t depict any empathy from her at all. Also, her description of how the woodchucks died obviously wasn’t of one who is doesn’t to kill but of those who doesn’t mind killing. While killing the first baby woodchuck, she started showing signs of her taking pleasure in it. Her description of her and her actions completely changed. The tone turned overwhelmingly dark. “The murderer inside me rose up hard,the hawkeye killer came on stage forthwith” (Kumin 15). Her way of wording things started changing to a different direction, which would be able to explain the fact that she also unconsciously admit that she took pleasure in killing them. The author of this poem did a good job trying to convey how a human’s mind works. This poem shows an extended metaphor about how people tend to justify their violent actions against other even though if it was hideous. The author used various metaphors and repetitions to convey her messages in the poem.
The poem commences with a debate between the mother and daughter about what they should do with the black walnut tree. Lines 1-15 are written in straightforward, easy to comprehend language. In these lines the speaker addresses why they should sell the tree. The two women give reasons by stating that the tree is growing weak, and given the tree’s proximity to the house, a storm will cause it to collapse into their house and pose a threat to their lives. In addition, the speaker claims that “roots in the cellar drains,” meaning the roots of the tree are getting bigger and spreading into the foundation of the house, thereby producing another danger to the well-being of the family. Moreover, the tree is getting older (“the leaves are getting heavier”), and the walnuts produced by the tree are becoming to gather. The tone of the mother and daughter shows their need for money but also a reluctance to selling the tree; they are desperately in need of money, but they don’t seem to be in favor of selling the tree. Although the reasons provided by the family are credible, they are not wholehearted. This is because the women “talk slowly…...
The feeling of fear and sadness is further portrayed by the crying of the village women, ". . . a woman's anguish pierced the still, early morning, followed by yet a duet of wails, and then a full chorus of cries." Clearly, these w...
War is often thought about as something that hardens a soldier. It makes a person stronger emotionally because they are taught not show it and deal with it internally. People say that death in war is easier to handle because it is for the right reasons and a person can distance themselves from the pain of losing someone. However, there is always a point when the pain becomes too real and it is hard to maintain that distance. In doing so, the story disputes the idea that witnessing a traumatic event causes a numbing or blockage of feelings. Rat Kiley’s progression of sentiment began with an initial concern for the buffalo, transforming into an irate killing of the animal, and then ending with an ultimate acceptance of death. These outward displays of feeling suggested that witnessing the death of a close friend caused him to become emotionally involved in the war.
In the first two lines, an aural image is employed to indicate a never-ending anger in the girl's father. Dawe uses onomatopoeia to create a disturbing and upsetting description of his enraged "buzz-saw whine." An annoying, upsetting sound, it gives the impression of lasting ceaselessly. His anger "rose /murderously in his throat." Because "murderously" begins on a new line, a greater emphasis is placed on it and its evil and destructive connotations. An image of a growling lion stalking its prey is evoked in the reader, as it threateningly snarls from its throat. The girl is terrified as it preys on her persistently "throughout the night." Furthermore, because there is no punctuation, these few lines are without a rest, and when reading out aloud, they cause breathlessness. This suggests that the father's "righteous" fury is ceaseless and suffocating the girl.
In the first stanza of the poem, the speaker clearly identifies that some woodchucks are annoying her. To solve this problem, the speaker uses gas as a way to eliminate the pests quickly and painlessly much like the Nazis tried to eradicate the Jews from their presence. Gassing the woodchucks is an easy way to remove the pests because using gas does not involve looking at the victims as they are put to death. This is also why the Nazis used the gassing methods to kill the Jews. After time this method was not as widely used due to the resilience of the woodchucks and Jews. Thus, this led the killers to use more ruthless techniques.
The first three lines of the poem were, “Much Madness is divinest Sense- To a discerning Eye- Much sense- the starkest Madness.” These lines are saying that because she is mad or insane she is godly but, if you are trying to make sense of things then you can easily be driven to madness. That is like what happened in the story. These people lived their life normally everyday. They never expected anything to go wrong, which is why when it went wrong things were so much worse. They never had mayhem in their life so, they didn’t know how to respond. They lost all sense and, they formed a mob mentality. Their fear pushed them to do unreasonable things.
Peter Taylor's The Old Forest. Critics have continuously characterized Peter Taylor’s work, as a social critique of the South and how it shows “the effects of cultural inheritance on its people” (Bryant 66). In his story, “The Old Forest,” Taylor examines the regional history and social structures that shaped his own past and how breaking the architecture that has existed for generations is not easily accomplished. Although it takes place in 1937, with progressive girls and college students filling the city of Memphis with intellectualism and open sexuality, the social constructions of the past, most specifically the descendants of plantation owners and rich socialites, are not easily forgotten. Lines have been drawn between those residing in the progressive city and Nat Ramsey’s community of debutantes and patriarchal dominance.
This began when he compared her clay and his secret thoughts to his fingers. He was implying that he was changing her with his secret thoughts. These secret thoughts can be assumed to be abuse by the way he describes her saying his fingers “set the lips, and sagge the cheeks, And drooped the eyes with sorrow” (Masters). Someone with a black eye can be described as having a drooping eye. With this in mind, and the later statement that it was a “face she hated And a face I feared to see” it can be assumed that he was abusing her until she hated to see herself. When he says that it was a face he feared to see, he means that he is resentful of what he had done and she was a constant reminder. This is shown by the final two lines of the poem which state “And then she died and haunted me, And hunted me for life” (Masters). What he had done to her had haunted him after her death and he believed that she was seeking revenge, as is shown through the use of the word “hunting”.
At the beginning, she presents herself as if she is conflicted as to whether or not she yearns to kill the woodchucks by the means of a gun. As she handles the .22 gun, Kumin experiences the thrill of the "bullets neat noses," holding an item that causes harm to others. During this moment, she discovers how exhilarating it is to work with a gun considering it is unlikely that she has ever utilized one before this moment. Toward the conclusion, Kumin wishes
While reading the poem the reader can imply that the father provides for his wife and son, but deals with the stress of having to work hard in a bad way. He may do what it takes to make sure his family is stable, but while doing so he is getting drunk and beating his son. For example, in lines 1 and 2, “The whisky on your breath Could make a small boy dizzy” symbolizes how much the father was drinking. He was drinking so much, the scent was too much to take. Lines 7 and 8, “My mother’s countenance, Could not unfrown itself.” This helps the reader understand the mother’s perspective on things. She is unhappy seeing what is going on which is why she is frowning. Although she never says anything it can be implied that because of the fact that the mother never speaks up just shows how scared she could be of her drunk husband. Lines 9 and 10, “The hand that held my wrist Was battered on one knuckle”, with this line the reader is able to see using imagery that the father is a hard worker because as said above his knuckle was battered. The reader can also take this in a different direction by saying that his hand was battered from beating his child as well. Lastly, lines 13 and 14, “You beat time on my head With a palm caked hard by dirt” As well as the quote above this quote shows that the father was beating his child with his dirty hand from all the work the father has
Neither white nor black people want to be poor, hungry, or unfair judgment put on them. However, being born with the blood of their parents, they have to live under different circumstances. Their lives are comfortable or struggled that depends on the kind of blood their parents give them. Especially, the mulattos who have mixed blood of white and black have more difficulties in life because of having multiple cultures. Indeed, the novel “the House Behind the Cedars” of Charles W. Chesnutt main message about race relation is that mulattos struggle dramatically in racial society of white, black, and mulatto their own kind people.
...poem. This poem could have multiple meaning behind it, but it is apparent that she was not happy about the way the animal was treated by previous fisherman or woman.
My assigned poem is entitled A Poison Tree, by William Blake. The poem begins as such: angry with an enemy, the speaker stealthily plots the perfect revenge. He completely hides his motives as his plan grows and matures into an item of lust for the foe. Unable to contain his desires, the foe, under the cover of night seeks the item. The next morning the speaker finds his foe vulnerable and anticipating his arrival.
There are so many distractions in our world today that take our minds from the real world to a virtual one. Richard Louv is one of the many people who admit this. Louv is the author of Last Child in the Woods. In this essay, he outlines the media distractions that turn our minds to a virtual reality. This is especially evident in children. Louv, in his essay, points out that children have so many things to distract them as they don’t have a developed enough mind to truly appreciate nature. In this essay, Louv relates many life experiences to describe the distractions of our world. Louv uses reference Elaine Brooks in this essay. Brooks warns, “True, our experience of natural landscape often occurs within an automobile looking
The main event is the death of the child, which has happened previously to the beginning of the poem. This event foreshadows the death of the marriage which will happen after the poem. The husband and wife go through the grief process in many different ways. The wife believes that her husband does not understand her or the grief in which she feels. Online 10, she shouts at him, “You couldn't care!...