The Manipulative Sirens and Their Victims in Margaret Atwood's Siren Song
In Homer's Odyssey, the Sirens are mythical creatures whose enchanting voices lure sailors to their deaths. These women have fascinated people ever since Homer sung the lines of his epic, inspiring artists of many genres from oil paintings to films. In her poem "Siren Song," Margaret Atwood re-envisions the Sirens to draw a comparison between the myths and modern life. Atwood portrays men as victims of "Sirens" (women) by making her readers the victims.
Atwood begins her poem with the speaker mysteriously introducing a secret. Speaking to her audience, the Siren--whose role is played in real life by women and paralleled by poets--attracts attention immediately with her luring phrases and vocabulary: "This is the one song everyone / would like to learn: the song / that is irresistible..." (1-3). Even with the word "siren" screaming, "Warning! Danger!" the loud ringing serves only to catch more notice. Readers respond with interest, wanting to hear this song and wondering why it is "irresistible" (3). Atwood uses colons in this first stanza as her tool for pulling readers into her story. Her colons hint at the revelation of this great secret; readers must read on to discover it.
Rather than stopping abruptly, Atwood carries her thought to the second stanza by beginning it with a lower case letter. However the speaker does not continue that thought by telling the secret right away as the reader would expect. Instead Atwood gives the speaker a seductive voice through her description of the enigmatic power of the Siren song. The speaker teases readers with evidence of its strength that "forces men / to leap overboard" (4-5), plunging to their deaths. ...
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...t works every time" (27).
In "Siren Song," Atwood plays off the mythical idea that Sirens seduce their victims in order to demonstrate the same manipulative tendencies in women and poets-women seduce men; poets seduce their readers. She proves her theory by exercising it and capturing her readers in her own poem. Her carefully crafted language forms a trap for her readers, demonstrating poetry's powerfully seductive nature. Readers become entranced in her story, and, after facing death as the Siren's (Atwood's) victims, her readers agree that this is "the song / that is irresistible..." (2-3) and "it works every time" (27).
Works Cited
Hamilton, Edith. Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes. New York: Mentor, 1990.
VanSpanckeren, Kathryn and Jan Garden Castro. Margaret Atwood: Vision and Forms. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1988.
In the first two lines, an aural image is employed to indicate a never-ending anger in the girl's father. Dawe uses onomatopoeia to create a disturbing and upsetting description of his enraged "buzz-saw whine." An annoying, upsetting sound, it gives the impression of lasting ceaselessly. His anger "rose /murderously in his throat." Because "murderously" begins on a new line, a greater emphasis is placed on it and its evil and destructive connotations. An image of a growling lion stalking its prey is evoked in the reader, as it threateningly snarls from its throat. The girl is terrified as it preys on her persistently "throughout the night." Furthermore, because there is no punctuation, these few lines are without a rest, and when reading out aloud, they cause breathlessness. This suggests that the father's "righteous" fury is ceaseless and suffocating the girl.
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Satan is the core of Milton’s master piece and no matter how he is interpreted; the overall complexity of his character cannot be overlooked.
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Psoriasis can appear on any part of the body. It is more likely to develop on the scalp, elbows, hands, groin, knees, legs and feet. It can also cause thick, discolored finger and toe nails. Psoriasis is known to be hereditary, meaning that the gene that causes the disease ca...
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...y sirens represent half-women, half-bird creatures who lived on an island. They used to sing in beautiful voices to lure sailors off their course. When Odysseus was sailing by the siren's island, he made the rest of his men plug up their ears and ties him to the mainmast. This way, he got to hear the beautiful sound of their voice without being driven to suicide. In this story the women weeping over Lautaro were compared to the sirens, and some sailors going to tie themselves to the mainmast in an attempt to mimic Odysseus. There is a contrast of these stories with the quotes from the villagers.
Psoriasis is an autoimmune disease that affects 125 million people world wide according to the World Psoriasis Day consortium. The origin of psoriasis is unknown, but many doctors and researches believe that genetics, along with environmental factors, trigger a hyperactive reaction of the immune system that leads to the relatively harmless, yet uncomfortable skin disease. The response of the immune system induces skin cells to multiply and mature rapidly, causing the skin cells to accumulate on top of each other and as a result, the skin becomes red, scaly, itchy, and forms thick patches on the skin. Despite that this disease is the most frequent auto-immune disease in the world, there is no cure for it. Not only is there no cure for psoriasis, but this disease can lead to other problems depending on the severeness of the disorder for example: psoriatic arthritis. However, this chronic disease has several treatment options that if used correctly and in a timely manner, will reduce and lessen the symptoms.( Although there is no cure for psoriasis, understanding how it begins, recognizing the symptoms, and learning about treatment options can enhance the quality of life for a person diagnosed with psoriasis.)
Psoriasis is an autoimmune disease that affects 125 million people world wide according to the World Psoriasis Day consortium. What causes psoriasis is unknown, but many doctors and researches believe that genetics and environmental factors trigger a hyperactive reaction of the immune system. This response then causes skin cells to multiply and mature rapidly, therefore causing the skin cells to buildup on top of each other and then eventually become red, scaly, itchy, and thick patches on skin. Even though this disease is the most common auto-immune disease in the world, there is no cure for it. Psoriasis can lead to other problems depending on the severity of the disease, however, this chronic disease has several treatment options in order to prevent further damage. Although there is no cure for psoriasis, understanding how it begins, recognizing the symptoms, and learning about treatment options can enhance the quality of life for a person diagnosed with psoriasis.
The beginning of the poem starts with a humorous tone. Kinnell begins his poem with a simile “snore like a bullhorn”, an “Irishman”, or playing “loud music” to express the idea of something that is really loud and noisy, but still cannot wake the son up as opposed to the child’s ability to wake up to “heavy breathing” and a “come-cry” (line1-7). The tone that the...
You just load up the camera back with your favorite flavor of Polaroid (ahem, Fuji) film,
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