Analysis of Fifteen to Eighteen from Marilyn Hacker’s Selected Poems
In the poem 'Fifteen to Eighteen', Marilyn Hacker uses the rebellious years of adolescence to analyze the effects an illness can have on the relationship and family roles for both parent and child. Diabetes puts the mother and daughter in opposite roles than are traditionally seen at this age. The illness which occurs at least over the last four years of this girl's childhood forces her to grow up prematurely, take on some of the mother roles, and suffer the sacrifices that accompany it.
Jessie Potter in Judith Viorst's book My Mother My Self discusses the impact that motherhood has on sexuality of the mother. "[The mother] may have been an interesting sexual partner until her child was born, but now she is too tired, too busy, she says the children take up too much of her attention. It's all culturally induced, but the result is that [the mother] goes underground sexually until the kids are grown."(59) Just as the role of motherhood often leads to giving up sexuality for a period of time, this daughter more immediately gives up masturbating to deal with her "child' of the hour. As the mother becomes the one who needs to be cared for, the daughter is forced, just as mothers usually are to give up their personal needs and desires when they become mothers. These sacrifices are not healthy for the mothers, nor is it healthy for this adolescent to be in this position of responsibility at such an early age. The poem leaves the reader wondering what will happen after the girl is eighteen, who will care for the mother? When the daughter leaves home, she will most likely feel guilty for leaving her mother who can not care for herself. This guilt is similar too to that which so often accompanies parenting.
The physical fighting and swearing in the poem are present as a way of showing how this girl is being forced from her childhood and thrown into adulthood and motherhood. "I was in shock again. I swam/to my surface to take care of my mother."(144) The liquid which is spilled during the evening is symbolic of the death of the daughter's adolescence, which reoccurs during each episode. "More often, enough orange juice got down,/splashed on us both"(144) And just as the daughter is totally in the role of caretaker, the mother snaps back and is once again in role of mother caring for her daughter, concerned about the scratches on her daughter's face.
No matter what actions or words a mother chooses, to a child his or her mother is on the highest pedestal. A mother is very important to a child because of the nourishing and love the child receives from his or her mother but not every child experiences the mother’s love or even having a mother. Bragg’s mother was something out of the ordinary because of all that she did for her children growing up, but no one is perfect in this world. Bragg’s mother’s flaw was always taking back her drunken husband and thinking that he could have changed since the last time he...
The poem starts out with the daughter 's visit to her father and demand for money; an old memory is haunting the daughter. feeding off her anger. The daughter calls the father "a ghost [who] stood in [her] dreams," indicating that he is dead and she is now reliving an unpleasant childhood memory as she stands in front of his
Any interpretation of this story is due to the reader’s personal emotions and feelings toward his or her own Papa. This story can be either a dance between him and his father, thus bringing them closer together. However, there is a darker side of this poem, on this side it is an unsettling fight between a boy and his drunken father and all the intimacy of the dance does not make an impression on the reader and is overshadowed by the anger they feel.
This poem, is written in free style using four stanzas; the author used very descriptive tone to help us in understanding the context. The first stanza, starts with the line: “the girlchild was born as usual”, this sentence gives me the impression that this child was born normal and nothing was wrong with her. First stanza, also describe the girl's toy such as “GE stove, and Irons”, this represents the kind of work a woman is suppose to do. It shows that she should learn, how to cook and iron, in order to be a respectable woman. Lipstick is a product which women use, in order to look pretty and cover the way they ...
Similarly to the way people hold expectations for the daystar, or sun, to rise every day, mothers are expected to perform their duties like cleaning the house or taking care of the children. Both are taken advantage of and are not fully appreciated until they stop performing their duties. Throughout the poem, the woman’s daughter and husband are given names, “Liza” (line 12) and “Thomas” (line 17) respectively, but not her. The woman is only referred to as “she” or “her” which further highlights the lack of acknowledgement she receives. The mother is taken for granted by her family and is not regarded as important. Her efforts are ignored and she is never thanked for completing her tasks around the house because that is the role she is “supposed” to fulfill.
Although the little girl doesn’t listen to the mother the first time she eventually listens in the end. For example, in stanzas 1-4, the little girl asks if she can go to the Freedom March not once, but twice even after her mother had already denied her the first time. These stanzas show how the daughter is a little disobedient at first, but then is able to respect her mother’s wishes. In stanzas 5 and 6, as the little girl is getting ready the mother is happy and smiling because she knows that her little girl is going to be safe, or so she thinks. By these stanzas the reader is able to tell how happy the mother was because she thought her daughter would be safe by listening to her and not going to the March. The last two stanzas, 7 and 8, show that the mother senses something is wrong, she runs to the church to find nothing, but her daughter’s shoe. At this moment she realizes that her baby is gone. These stanzas symbolize that even though her daughter listened to her she still wasn’t safe and is now dead. The Shoe symbolizes the loss the mother is going through and her loss of hope as well. This poem shows how elastic the bond between the daughter and her mother is because the daughter respected her mother’s wish by not going to the March and although the daughter is now dead her mother will always have her in her heart. By her having her
The poem begins with a childlike tone, misleading the reader on the upcoming subject matter. The first line echoes a nursery rhyme, feeling like a charm against some brooding curse. “You do not do, you do not do/ anymore black shoe” (lines 1-2). Metaphorically, the shoe is a trap, smothering the foot. The adjective “black” suggests the idea of death, thus it can relate to a coffin. The speaker feels a submissiveness and entrapment by her father. In an attempt to rid herself of the restriction in her own life, she must destroy the memory of her father. “Daddy, I have to kill you” (line 3). However, the description of the father as “marble-heavy” and “ghastly statue” reveals the ambivalence of her attitude, for he is also associated with the beauty of the sea. The speaker reacts with hate to her father who had made her suffer by dying at such a point in her development.
Motherhood is a compassionate kinship between the mother and her offspring. Becoming a mother can be planned or unplanned depending on the person. Families tend to cherish the new beginning to a little human life. When someone decides to have a new life, it isn’t easy, and not only can some women not get pregnant, but the variation your body endures is amazing. The body goes through many life changing experiences. Some women can gain weight, or have a rollercoaster of emotions due to their hormones. Having a child is a very hard thing, because your whole life changes and it’s not all about you anymore. Children cannot control the family or mothers they have when born, they aren’t able to understand the concept of what is happening with their mothers or families until they are older. In novels, Incidents in the Life of a Slave girl, by Harriet A. Jacobs and The Awakening by Kate Chopin motherhood is portrayed in many different ways. The two stories differ in my way but both encounter similarities of motherhood in various ways.
There are a couple of similes the author uses in the poem to stress the helplessness she felt in childhood. In the lines, “The tears/ running down like mud” (11,12), the reader may notice the words sliding down the page in lines 12-14 like mud and tears that flowed in childhood days. The speaker compares a...
The author uses imagery, contrasting diction, tones, and symbols in the poem to show two very different sides of the parent-child relationship. The poem’s theme is that even though parents and teenagers may have their disagreements, there is still an underlying love that binds the family together and helps them bridge their gap that is between them.
Parent/Child relationships are very hard to establish among individuals. This particular relationship is very important for the child from birth because it helps the child to be able to understand moral and values of life that should be taught by the parent(s). In the short story “Teenage Wasteland”, Daisy (mother) fails to provide the proper love and care that should be given to her children. Daisy is an unfit parent that allows herself to manipulated by lacking self confidence, communication, and patience.
One of the ways Roethke has described the abusive relationship is through the use of verbs. To set the stage of the night, Roethke starts off the poem by saying, “The whiskey on your breath Could make a small boy dizzy;” (line 1-2), which implies that his father has drank a lot. Roethke has used several verbs in the poem to describe what is going on, which give off a very violent vibe. Roethke used, “hung”, “held”, “scraped”, “beat”, and “clinging” to show us the abuse he suffered. The order in which the verbs have been positioned is interesting too. It is Roethke who “hung” on to his father, “scraped” his
The “Girl” written by Jamaica Kincaid is essentially a set of instructions given by an adult, who is assumed to be the mother of the girl, who is laying out the rules of womanhood, in Caribbean society, as expected by the daughter’s gender. These instructions set out by the mother are related to topics including household chores, manners, cooking, social conduct, and relationships. The reader may see these instructions as demanding, but these are a mother’s attempt, out of care for the daughter, to help the daughter to grow up properly. The daughter does not appear to have yet reached adolescence, however, her mother believes that her current behavior will lead her to a life of promiscuity. The mother postulates that her daughter can be saved from a life of promiscuity and ruin by having domestic knowledge that would, in turn also, empower her as a productive member in their community and the head of her future household.
The way that the author explains at the beginning what she had on and how she was so ready to pump the gas. Laux explains how the girl in the poem gets splashed by gas that came out of the pump because of the air bubble that was made in the tank. The image of her on the floating grey cloud to find was love was pretty visible. This poem definitely expressed a lot of imagery.
Motherhood is a traditional role for women. From the time they are young, girls are taught to grow up, marry and become mothers. Of course they can do other things with their lives like play sports, have careers, and travel, but an overwhelming amount of women want to be mothers no matter what else they accomplish with their lives. It is common knowledge that being a good mother is one of the hardest jobs in the world. It is to forever have a special link with another person or people and have a tremendous influence, maybe the most tremendous influence over their lives. Motherhood is a roller coaster ride for women, full of ups and downs, fears and accomplishments. But what happens when motherhood defines who a woman is? All children grow up, and while a woman is always a mother, children need their mothers less and less until eventually their dependence is very minimal. What happens to the woman whose singular role and purpose is no longer needed? In The Summer Before The Dark, and The Fifth Child, the maternal roles of Kate Brown, and Harriet Lovatt are analyzed and traditional motherhood behavior is deconstructed due to these characters’ experiences and relationships with their children.