William Carlos Williams The Red Wheelbarrow

In William Carlos Williams’ poem, “The Red Wheelbarrow,” he artistically paints a picture using words to depict a simple object that to some may appear mundane. Through his illustration the red wheelbarrow, which might otherwise be overlooked, becomes the focal point of his poem and the image he is creating for the reader. He paints the illusion through his writing style, use of color and word choices to remind the reader of the importance of a simple object, the wheelbarrow.

Williams’ minimalist writing style employed free verse and by maintaining simplicity allowed the wheelbarrow to be the center of attention. He accomplished this task by breaking up the poem, which consisted of one sentence, into eight lines and further divided it into couplets. The beginning line of each couplet was longer than the second line, which only had one word. This formation allowed the reader to focus on specific words before moving to the next line. This is best illustrated in the opening lines, “so much depends/upon,” (Williams 288). Already, Williams has established the importance of the object by conveying to the reader that many things are dependent on the object. It is also significant that none of the words in the poem are capitalized nor did Williams

use any punctuation. The absence of these items eliminated distractions and permitted the reader to focus on the main object, the wheelbarrow. Just as a painter or photographer captures an image by focusing on a main object this too was Williams’ technique, which he accomplished through his condensed free verse writing style.
The illustration was further created and amplified through Williams’ use of color. In the second couplet the color red is assigned to the wheelbarrow. Red is a very invigorating color. It is often used to signify life since it is the color of blood, which is necessary for life and is shown in first aid and many emergency symbols. Since blood is an essential component of life people depend on it to survive much like Williams’ poem is conveying that the wheelbarrow is also important because, “so much depends/upon,” (Williams 288) it. The vibrancy of the color also draws a person’s attention to an object with red coloring. White was another color used in the poem to describe the chickens as shown in the couplet, “beside the white/chickens” (Williams 288). The contrast between the red and the white certainly makes the image of the red wheelbarrow stand out in the reader’s mind. Just as stop signs, which are red and white, are used to grab a person’s attention so does Williams’ illustration of a red wheelbarrow accented by white chickens nearby. His use of color thereby enhances the poem and the image created in the reader’s mind and causes the wheelbarrow to be the important focal point.
Williams’ minimal use of words, such as glazed, rain, and water, add emphasis to the wheelbarrow.

The line, “glazed with rain,” (Williams 288) describes how the wheelbarrow looks. Glazed implies that is shiny and clean after having been doused with a fresh coating of rain. The next line, “water,” has been separated from the word rain. This can have many connotations. One implication may be the association that similar to life’s dependency upon water so too is a person dependent on a wheelbarrow. This is especially true since a wheelbarrow is used as a tool that helps people to transport things but like water is often taken for granted. Once again, Williams’ has chosen simple words to highlight the significance of the

wheelbarrow.
Through the author’s simplistic writing style, he dissects one sentence to create an illustration for the reader. His use of the color red adds vibrancy and significance while his word choice adds validity to the importance of the red wheelbarrow. What may have once appeared to be a mundane object, a wheelbarrow, has been assigned a value and role of importance through Williams’ poem, “The Red Wheelbarrow.”