Poem Analysis: Pluto Shits On The Universe

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Pluto Shits on the Universe is a strong and defiant poem that expresses the rejection of rules, rules placed upon others by those who cannot even begin to control them. After being discredited as a planet for her uncharted and chaotic movements, Pluto reacts. She expresses her freedom from the rules of documented science, from our sense of time, from our titles and competition. This poem has tones of defiance, confidence and independence created through its syntax, diction, and repetition.
The first tone the reader may easily sense is defiance. With just the first line – “Today, I broke your solar system. Oops.” – Pluto (the speaker) instantly establishes an unsympathetic and unapologetic stance on her removal from the list of planets which make up our solar system. The syntax in this sentence alone tells readers that she couldn’t care less for her ‘dilemma’. Pluto, without a second thought – considering the inclusion of “Oops” in the first line rather than following a line break – immediately feels no remorse for the disruption caused. This, along with the rest of the first and second stanza, defines the …show more content…

The order of the following quote is interesting, as she states, “My name means hell, bitch,” before outright taking on that identity with “I am hell, bitch”. Concerning the arrangement, I first understood this line to be a realization, an epiphany on the page. As for the line herself, more so the words used, I took it as a declaration of Pluto’s sense of importance, of royalty – hell, though a Kingdom of the damned, is in fact a kingdom. Taking on the title of hell, hell being a kingdom of the damned, she is owning her ‘damnation’ from the list of recognized planets – a sort of “If the shoe fits” comment on her own existence. Therefore, with the aforementioned line, she is declaring dominion over herself and expressing her independence from the rules of our

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