Getting Through #265

Deborah Pope’s Getting Through is about a woman who is going through a loss. She is having difficulty “getting through” the pain that she feels. Through the use of imagery and diction Pope allows the reader to feel the pain that the narrator is experiencing.

Pope uses imagery to show the reader the pain that the narrator is feeling. Similes are used frequently throughout the poem beginning in line one. She narrator feels “Like a car stuck in gear,” meaning that she feels as though she cannot go on. The next two lines tell us that the narrator feels like a chicken with its head gone, through what I believe is the use of extended simile. If their head is gone then they cannot think clearly and is probably acting irrationally. In line seven the simile of a phone ringing is used. A phone that is ringing in an empty house tells us that the narrator feels empty and lonely. The constant ringing might be her thoughts that are echoing in her head. Another example of a simile used is in line nineteen where she says her words are “hurtling past, like a train off its tracks”. The narrator tells us that the train is going toward a boarded-up station that has been closed, meaning that she continues to dwell on the past. She has things to say, but there is no one waiting at the station to hear them. The last simile can be found in line twenty-two where she says “like some last speaker…”. She is the “last” speaker, so she is alone and no one understands her. Imagery appears in line sixteen and seventeen where we learn that their heart continues “spill out” love, but that love is no longer wanted. Metaphor adds to the imagery and is used in lines eleven and twelve where she says that the “dust is a deepening skin”. The dust is used to show the passage of time and tells the reader that the narrator has dwelled on her loss for years and cannot get past what has happened. In the following line the narrator says that the locks are unneeded and I think that this shows her vulnerability. The end of her relationship did so much damage that is has left her wounded and open and no lock can protect her.

Diction can be found in line four of the poem when it says the “sound ratcheting on…” when referring to a film that has jumped off the reel. The word “ratcheting” tells us that the sound is increasing and is probably driving the narrator crazy. Later, in line fifteen, it says that her heart is “blundering” on. The word “blundering” tells us that her heart carelessly/thoughtlessly continues to beat for the person despite what has happened. In line eighteen she says that her words are “hurtling” past. The word hurtling means that to rush violently, so I think that the narrator is saying that the words that she says are somewhat angry because she has been abandoned by the person that she loves.

While this poem is depressing I like the use of imagery and diction because they allow the reader to better understand the pain that the narrator feels. The woman has been unable to move forward in her life because she is still stuck on the past. She is still in love with a man, but he does not love her back. The title Getting Through is ironic because the narrator can’t get through what has happened. She is stuck in the past and can’t escape it.

Money #212

Victor Contoski’s poem, Money, tells how money can trick a person. At first, money is great and everyone becomes your best friend because you have it. It seems harmless like a dog, bird, or plant, but then you begin to change and become a greedy person. Contoski’s poem uses imagery through the use of similes and personification to show how money can trick and change a person.

Similes are used twice in the poem. The first time this is used is when the narrator says that money is “like a dog.” Dogs are generally loving and often called a man’s best friend just as money is shown to be. Another simile that is used is when it says that money is “like an amoeba.” I looked up the word amoeba to better understand it and I learned that the word means “change.” I found this to be rather interesting because in the poem money changes. It will no longer be your best friend because it will trick you. Money can also change a person. At the end of the poem it says that it poisons the heart, thus turning the person into a greedy person. An amoeba is constantly multiplying just like money seems to.

Personification appears frequently in the poem. In the second line of the poem it says that money is “willing to be domesticated” just as an animal would be. In the next line it says that money will “nest” in your pocket, which creates an image of a bird nesting comfortably. In line five it says that money will “curl up in a corner.” This gives money the characteristics of that of a dog or cat. Money will “recite” the names of the presidents. The author gives money the characteristics of a person by saying that it speaks. It will “shake hands” and “lick the legs”, once again giving money characteristics of a dog. These two lines show that money will delight the people around you. In line thirteen it says that money “makes love to itself.” I wasn’t exactly sure as to what the author meant by this line. I think that the author may have put this in to give money human characteristics. Another example of personification appears in line seventeen where it says that money “needs exercise”. He is saying that you need to spend the money which will give it “exercise”. The following line says that money needs to be watered and will “repay you with displays of affection”. By “watering” money you would allow it to grow, like a plant, and it would repay you by allowing you to spend more of it. It then describes money by going in for a “kiss” in line twenty-four and then it will “bite” you. The author is saying that at first money will seem as though it is your best friend, but then it will turn on you.

Overall I liked the poem and how it depictes money. It shows you the real side of money and how it does not make a person happy. It seems wonderful at first, but then it changes you into a greedy person. Money can also get a person into a lot of trouble such as debt, and then the money that you once thought was your friend turns on you. The imagery created an image in the reader’s mind of how innocent money appears to be. It allows the reader to better understand evil side of money. It is said that money cannot buy happiness and the author clearly demonstrates this through several literary devices.