The Woodpecker's Bits Literary Devices

Element of "The Woodpecker's Toes"

In Till's poem "The Woodpecker's Toes," he uses imagery, symbolism, and irony to convey to the reader the theme of death is inevitable and should not be feared. Death is one of the few things promised in life. It is powerful because of how inescapable it is. Many people are fearful of it because of the unknown.

In the "Woodpecker's Toes, there are a lot of symbols. In correspondence to the last of the BB gun days you can interpret that as the last of the dying days. A sense of crucifixion played a role to me because of the way the birds were described when they fell. "One by One out of trees and bushes, were sometimes held". (4-5) You can counter that phrase in many ways. One way can be when Jesus spread his word and showed his faith, only a few followed and those who wanted mercy were given a hand. As they crucified Jesus he never broke his faith and believed that in the end everything would be alright. Though many did not believe and continued to sin against him, his heart and spirit was too strong to break.

Kennedy defines symbolism is described as" a person, place, or thing in a poem or narrative that suggests meanings beyond its literal sense". "Symbolism is related to allegory, but it works

more complexly." ("Symbolism") In the story symbols of "the last bird was way up on oak in a very old woods" (10-11) could have signified the cross and the last being to crossover. We talk about symbols leading to paths whether right or wrong, but never take the time to choose if the path we interpret means more than the eye can see. Till's poem could have been describing the last days without actually putting in words other than his own what theoretically happen. The poem is symbolically a time when you can not only see what is upon you but feel the emotion that is around the writer as he portrays his vision. The symbolism of the BB gun means death or an unperceived threat. "The ceremony of forgetting, and there were certain misgiving that felt like shadows" (7-8) symbolizes that after the funeral takes place, no one will remember you and forget you ever existed.

When the quote came "He saw there was a light in the kitchen window".

"He was almost home." (26-27) Those lines speak of the light through the tunnel and his bike ride is the symbolic reference for judgment and path to a healthy and purified life. When we look at the reasoning behind a poem, some state different gestures and others are self explanatory. Poems are encrypted with life without meaning and words without sense, but spoken truly from the heart. The last supper could be symbolic to the poem as the woodpecker's last meal before they fell from the tree. The toes of the woodpecker is a symbol of strength and resilience. He was able to dig his toes in the tree and held on to the tree after being

shot.

Kennedy defines irony as "a literary device in which a discrepancy of meaning is masked beneath the surface of the language." "Irony is present when a writer says one thing but means something quite the opposite." "There are many kinds of irony, but the two major varieties are verbal irony and situational irony." ("Irony") In the story irony was portrayed in the line "It was the smallest of woodpeckers, and it would not fall." (14-15) All of the other birds fell out the tree and bushes and except this small woodpecker. It should have been very easy to shoot a small bird out of the tree, but this bird wouldn't fall.

Kennedy defines imagery as "The collective set of images in a poem or other literary work. Imagery was used throughout the entire poem. The "reedy lake with snapping turtles in it that could bleed ribbons of blood" (11-12) This image means portrays how the last bird would go out. "Solemn and alone, to practice the death codes" (2-3) signifies an image of the boy's hobby and what he likes to do on a daily basis. "Birds fell, one by one, out of trees and bushes, were sometimes held in hand, laid out in rows"(4-6) means the boy had no remorse for what he had done. The "afternoon's end and crucified in his clothes" (17-18) was a night time death and a religious allegory for Jesus Christ.

There is not much detail given of the mother or father bird but shows the many trials and sections of the leap of death. " A column of light no can see, neither the living nor the dead" (21-22) could have meant that only you were the chosen one to carry out what is right and no one may not be able to see what he tells, but feel his spirit as the live. We may not always be able to explain the unseen but with a gust of faith and path of righteousness anything can be overcome.

Kenny defines diction as"word choice or vocabulary" "Diction refers to the class of words that an author decides is appropriate to use in a particular work." "Literary history is the story of diction being challenged, upheld, and reinvented." ("Diction") The author used diction as his form of writing because he let the pen and the words speak for what his soul had to say. In each paragraph of the poem the story takes a turn in one direction through many ways. The poem spoke of the birds head flopping and singing its last tune. The way and motion of the head could be the drop of Jesus last words from the pain and torture he endured. It was calling for him to tell him the fight was over, now we wait. So many aspect and each word can mean what the says or can depict another.