Howard Nemerov The Vacuum Meaning

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Can one item be used to symbolize more than one thing in a poem? Yes it can. In “The Vacuum” by Howard Nemerov he uses a vacuum cleaner to symbolize more than one thing. He uses it symbolize his wife, cleanliness, and his sense of purpose. Without the vacuum being used as a symbol throughout the poem then the poem would be about a man in a dirty home. Since it is a symbol it tells much more besides his home. It tells why and what happened for him to be like he is.
First, the vacuum symbolizes his wife who has died. He hints that his wife has died before he decides to tell it in the poem. He says, “Its bag limp as a stopped lung, its mouth / Grinning into the floor (3-4). He uses the bag on the vacuum to represent her lungs which just stopped working ultimately causing her death. The vacuum is grinning which he has …show more content…

The house is a mess. The vacuum just sits there in the corner closet and does not get used. He says, “I can’t bear/ to see the bag swell like a belly, eating the dust / and the woolen mice, and begin to howl (8-10). The vacuum shows he does not clean since his wife died. He lost the cleanliness because she used to clean. He even says that there is filth everywhere in the house. Finally, the vacuum symbolizes that his sense of purpose is gone. He does not care about how dirty his home gets. He is still angry and hurt that his wife has died. He says, “And still the hungry, angry heart/ hangs on and howls, biting at air (14-15). He misses her. She is what gave him purpose in life. In the poem, by Howard Nemerov, he uses the vacuum as a major symbol. The vacuum represents his wife. His wife did all the cleaning and everything. It also symbolized how his life changed after she died. He lost the cleanliness and his sense of purpose. The vacuum cleaner represents all of it. The one thing you need in life can quit working or die. Without it how would you

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