A Literary Analysis Of Tracy K. Smith's Book 'Life On Mars'

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Selina Raymond Mrs. Hildebrand English 102 29 March 2018 Literary Analysis of Savior Machine Many people do not realize how similar poetry and music are. Both poetry and music are commonly known as an outlet for artists to express their emotions. Some similarities they both have are rhythm, expression, and emotion. Through those three components is it easy for the readers to understand what the message and feelings the artist is trying to portray. In Tracy K. Smiths book “Life on Mars” she expresses many emotions through her book such as grief, praise, and solace. It is common for many artists to get inspiration or ideas from other artists. For instance, Tracy K. Smith got plenty of inspiration from songwriter David Bowie in her book called …show more content…

At the beginning of both song and poem it starts off sad, as you read about people going through hardships. The difference between them is the poem gets happy whereas the song gets more depressing as it goes on. In Tracy K. Smith’s poem she talks about a girl who was in therapy for a couple of years. When she first started she could barely look at her therapist let alone talk to him about her problems she was dealing with. After awhile she finally got used to her therapist and even laughed during some of her sessions. The only thing that the machine does in David Bowie song is stops the war and provides the people with food. Also the people in Bowies song rely on the machine without it they would die. Whereas Smith states, “Gradually it felt like a date with a friend,/Which meant it was time to end.” (lines 6-7). The girl in the poem knew that she needed help overcoming some difficulties but also knew when it was time to let go and start living her own life again. Another way that these poems differ is the connotation the savior machines have. In Smiths essay the therapist is described as a “friend” (line 6). While in David Bowie’s song he states, “So he told them his scheme for a Saviour Machine” (line 3). Which makes the readers think that the purpose for the savoir machine was to never actually help the people with their needs but to turn on them and destroy them. In the end the girl in the poem is thankful for the therapists help for letting her open up, get her words out, and grow from the challenges she faced. In the end of the song, the machine turned on the people and got bored with society being so perfected it wanted to start a war or kill of the people itself. The different outcomes in both the poem and song make a huge difference from one

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