The Theme Of Family In The Exchange By Alice Ostriker

All humans are frightened by anything that is likely to take away their love life, family or joy. “The Exchange” by Alice Ostriker is a poem that tells the story of a woman, frightened by the possibility of losing the precious things and people she values. In many of her interviews with media personalities and literary critics, Ostriker observes that we always experience both disappointments and joys of love; at least at one point in our lives, regardless of the means it is manifested. This paper examines the theme of family in the poem, and specifically the ever-present trepidation that some “ghost woman” could take the speaker’s place in her marriage, an aspect of her life that she truly treasures. The paper also analyses the poetic aspects used and how they enhance the theme.

The speaker sees men as a gender that is guided by visible attributes of the women they come across with, as opposed to personality, family ideals and expected traditional roles such as protection, provision, guidance and leadership. She says “her husband answers the doorbell and sees / This magnificent naked woman”

Typically weeds are intrusive and do not need to be taken care of, in the manner in which a crop farmed for its food or fruit is. In some cases, weeds can grow stronger and more powerful than the ideal crop, if they are not eradicated early enough. The dangers that marriages face are as invasive as weeds that can survive or grow in very unfavorable conditions, conditions which the legitimate wife will not. The speaker says her enemy “faces upwards” meaning she is brave enough to confront anything that will hinder her ambitions (4). By the time she does so, the adversary of family stability, “keeps abreast with our rented canoe” (5). The canoe is metaphorically used to symbolize the bond, which keeps the woman and her children together. Her husband is not with them in the canoe. He is at