Poetry- Close Analysis

Overlooked: An Analysis of
Mary Oliver’s “Ghosts”

The poem begins with the haunting reproof, “Have you noticed” (28) which suggests that the reader has not been paying attention to the current state or change of something rather important. Through this repeated statement, Mary Oliver accuses her reader of blindness and apathy in her poem, “Ghosts”. Although not explicitly stated, Mary Oliver warns that the transfer of the American heartland from Native Americans into the hands of the white man has erased something beautiful from the face of the nation. Oliver is referring to the loss of nature.
This loss is attributed to the white Americans who desecrated the country in the early nineteenth century. In her third section Oliver notes that in 1805 Lewis watched as the chicks of sparrows huddled together after having “left the perfect world and fallen, / helpless and blind / into the flowered fields and the perils / of this one” (29). The chicks’ descent into the harsh ground, far from their nest, is symbolic of America’s descent from Native American sacred homeland, to an industrializing new people. It is apparent that Oliver is referring to this descent in the fact that she alludes to Meriwether Lewis, the famous explorer who is credited with making possible the white immigration to the West. The phrase “Have you noticed” is repeated because although Lewis did appreciate and notice his surroundings, Oliver is under the impression that the reader hasn’t and stands blindly by as the unbeknownst memory of “so many million powerful bawling beasts / [who] lay down on the earth and died” haunts us (28) .

Later, in the fifth section, Oliver notes that rich Americans in the nineteenth century would shoot buffalo from train windows and leave the carcasses which “stank unbelievable, and sang with flies, ribboned / with slopes of white fat, / black ropes of blood – hellhunks” (29). Such revolting imagery is used not only to describe the rotting corpses, but also the disgusting effects of the train passengers’ actions. Thus, the reader comes to see the white culture as indifferent, rash, and disgusting.

Native Americans, however, may be seen in a different light. The entire culture is melded into the poem as symbolic of a fluid symbiosis with nature: “Have you noticed? how the rain / falls soft as the fall / of moccasins” (28-29). This comparison implies that the Native Americans’ footfalls did not harm the land, but gave it life and nourishment akin to the cleansing rain. Oliver’s continuing “Have you noticed?” here gives the reader the sense of what they have done wrong in direct comparison with what the Indians had done right. Native American culture has also been greatly affected by white culture, and Oliver seems to be mourning the loss of that culture in her poem, using the loss of buffalo as symbolic of the demise of the Indian tribes. The buffalo are given a Native American personification when Oliver states that the herds stood “moon after moon / in their tribal circle” (30).

At the end of all of this, however, it is important to remember that Oliver ends her poem of death with a story of birth. The lost buffalo is symbolically reborn as a cow “with the tenderness of any caring woman, / […] gave birth / to a red calf” (30). This rebirth may also symbolize the repentance of her own culture; earlier in the poem, Oliver notes, “In the book of the earth is it written: / nothing can die” which is followed by the idea of the Sioux that things do not die, they merely hide (29). Thus, we may see that the culture is still alive somewhere and they, unlike us, may “make room” so that we may share their “wild domains” (30).

Not sure if I need a more conciliatory statement to conclude.

Poetry--Extended Analysis

Slumber

The mind is a vault
to wander through
aimlessly or charted,

For a time, I stealthily searched the
depths
of my own

holding the lantern aloft
as I peered through each
cryptic door.

Some rooms are empty,
waiting patiently, sometimes
for eternity
a spark to fill it.

A spark to torch the room
to fill it with the blaze of knowledge.

Each night, as I wander down each corridor,
through each chamber,
and into each hollow,

my own smallness is
realized,
As I, wrapped

in a blanket of thoughts,
dance under a sky full of dreams…

I tried to make this poem Mary Oliver-esque, but I may have failed. I know she normally themes her poems around nature but there are some instances where she doesn't, and I thought this would be one of those instances. I tried to make the language seem like her and I think I did a reasonable job at capturing her voice in that light, but I couldn't acheive the proper flow. My inspiration for this was my own exhaustion at first (namely, the inspiration for the title). But once I got going I kept picturing the mind more and more like a giant storage space with millions of rooms waiting to be filled; after realizing that I remembered an episode of Yu Gi Oh I saw (yes I know, but I promise I only watched it a couple of times out of sheer Saturday Morning Boredom). In the episode their wandering around in a schizophrenic character's mind which contained a hallway and two areas; the first area was the area of the little boy, filled with toys and the like, the other area was that of a complex character, full of locked doors and stairs. In short it was cool and I liked the idea. More succintly, I tried.

Monkey Bridge--Extended Analysis

I made a powerpoint and researched the swallows' nests delicacy that Cao mentions semi-frequently. It sounded really itneresting so I did some research on it. It's pretty disgusting. I'll be presenting the powerpoint to the class. I spent about 2 hours fully researching and making the project.

sources that I actually used for the powerpoint:

Parkinson, Rhonda. "Swallow's Nest Soup With Rock Sugar." About.com. 2007. 20 May 2007 http://chinesefood.about.com/od/chinesesouprecipes/r/swallowsnest.htm.

"Natural Nests." Natural Nest. 2006. Natural Nest. 20 May 2007 http://www.naturalnest.com.
Lee, Sheng-pu. "Origin of Birds' Nest." Sunpower. 2007. Sunpower Wellness Center. 20 May 2007 http://www.proliver.com/orofbine.html.

"Swiftlet Nest." Swiftlet. 05 Oct 2004. HealthyNest. 20 May 2007 .

Poetry--Reader Response

Overall I liked both poetry books equally well, but in completely different ways. Mary Oliver's serene look on life is really easy and calming to read and her imagery and use of word flow is very effecting. Her subjects are interesting in the way she describes them and the randomness of poems like "Flying" is a nice break in between sad poems like "Ghosts" and "An Old Whore House." However, Billy Collins seems almost like the opposite. Although both authors have endings that often don't seem to fit their beginnings, Collins' subject choice seems much more day to day, which is refreshing. I especially like what I translated as a jibe at Oliver's dramatic flare with "To a Stranger Born in Some Distant Country Hundreds of Years From Now." I found Collins to be more amusing than Oliver, but both are equally entertaining.

Oliver's "John Chapman" was the first poem of hers that really caught my literary eye. I wonder what the poem is saying about women, or perhaps men, when a character like Chapman who "honored everything...spoke/only once of women and his gray eyes/brittled into ice: 'Some/are deceivers'"(24). Were the author male, I would assume this is a sexist remark, but coming from Oliver I don't know how to take it. Obviously some women are deceivers, but the same could be true for men, so why would Chapman (aka Johnny Appleseed) make such a derogatory statement? The end of the poem struck me on a deeper note. "[H]e became the good legend, you do/what you can if you can; whatever//the secret, and the pain,//there's a decision: to die,/or to live, to go on/caring about something" (25). When I read this I paused for a moment and reread the last three stances (stanzas?) to appreciate the full meaning. Care about something and leave your mark, become a legend and a symbol for others to follow.

"Tecumseh" was the other most poignant poem for me to read. "There's a sickness/worse than the risk of death and that's/forgetting what we should never forget" (77). The poem basically appreciates the loss of Native American culture and I felt like the poem is a final encouragement for us to at least attempt to make amends.

Collins’ poems are completely different and yet also the same. I never know what the message will be until I reach the very end of the poem and read the last few lines twice trying to comprehend the full meaning. There are some poems which I still don’t understand why he wrote: Egypt and Duck/Rabbit. Yet there are others that I appreciate too much to question. “Marginalia” may be my favorite poem in the book because I can relate to it so much. Staining books is a sin I feel sorry about daily, especially library books. As well as the need to write in the obvious, my copy of Monkey Bridge is littered with statements like “irony” or “symbolic??”. More importantly though, is the end of the poem. “‘Pardon the egg salad stains, but I’m in love” (16). This really brings back the deeper meaning of things to me. Why need I worry about staining the pages of a worn book, there are so many more important things in life, and at least such metaliteral communications will amuse later readers.

“Victoria’s Secret” is the poem I’m sure people will be talking about. The imagery amazed me because I could imagine each ostentatious pose. My favorite line is “What do I care, her eyes say, we’re all going to hell anyway” (57). Each elongated description of the clothing just adds to the pompousness that I think we often forget is inherent in a catalogue, nay a store, such as Victoria’s Secret. Mr. Collins, I salute thee.

Both books have given me a new appreciation of poetry. I still don’t understand the nuances, but I like it anyway. My ignorance is helping my bliss in this case and I may be sad once we must study the symbolism of the location of breaks in the line, which I missed entirely and eventually gave up looking for.

Persepolis--Extended Analysis

In the 1950’s Britain had control over Iran’s oil industry because it owned the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company. Although one would expect enormous oil reserves to be quite lucrative for the host company, the oil industry was not pulling Iran out of general poverty. Britain refused to pay the asked percentage of its profits to Iran so the industry was nationalized to increase government revenue. Because of the nationalization of the Iranian oil industry Britain and the United States organized an embargo on Iranian oil which ruined Iran’s fragile economy.

The American government (specifically the CIA) then aided in a coup against the Iranian government which place a new leader, known as the Shah, in power. The restructuring of the Iranian government put the large oil companies back into the hands of Britain, but this time forty percent of the company belonged to the U.S. Khomeini

With a now Western-friendly government in tact, Iran became the premier importer of U.S. military supplies. The economy grew quickly with the support of the Western nations. Economic profit however, was unequal; many remained in poverty and the new regime imprisoned and tortured several thousand political activists.

After public rallies and activism against him, the Shah stepped down and left the country in the hands of the revolution’s leader, Khomeini. Khomeini brought an Islamic theme and anti-Western sentiment into the Iranian government. The revolution and change of power brought on a social upheaval that left Iran weak.

Iraq, which considered Iran a threat to its cause, invaded Iran hoping that its adversary’s revolutionary instability would lead to a quick finish with Iraq as the victors. However, the war turned out to be much longer than expected.

Both countries had been building up large arsenals before the war and Iran had the advantage of sheer manpower. The United States had trouble picking sides: Iran had an unstable regime which could pose a threat later on; on the other hand, Hussein was considered to be slightly less dangerous and had the support of the Soviet Union. The greatest fear for many western nations was that one of the warring nations would eventually win over the other and become a regional superpower. If this were to happen, the oil reserves of the regions would be left in uncertain hands. The documents of powerful politicians during the period show a deep interest in the future of the oil fields in the region. Thus, the United States, among other nations, had little else they could do but claim neutrality from the entire situation.

However, as the conflict dragged on, America began to see the Islamic government as more of a threat than Hussein’s tyrannical rule. Thus, the U.S. began a covert “tilt” towards Iraq. This meant that the U.S. aided Iraq with extra funds sent over and secret military information was shared. The exchanges were made even more covert when Iran reported Iraq’s use of chemical weapons to the U.N. Security Council. When the U.N. confirmed the use of chemical weapons by Iraq, (using intelligence supplied by the United States) the U.S. bolstered security on Iranian oil refineries and ports.

During the eight year war, Iran took several American hostages who were finally saved by trading arms for the American citizens. Over the course of the eight-year war it is possible that more than a million people were killed in the region. Although the U.N. recommended a cease-fire, which meant no nations were supposed to aid on either side, at least ten nations helped the two combatants over the course of the war including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, the United States, France, Germany, and the Soviet Union.


WORKS CITED

Shalom, Steven. "The United States and The Iran-Iraq War." 1997. 1 May 2007 .

"The 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq War: A CWIHP Critical Oral History Conference ." Cold War International History Project. 2004. Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. 1 May 2007 .

"The Iran-Iraq War." Jewish Virtual Library. 2007. American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise. 1 May 2007 .

Battle, Joyce. "Shaking Hands With Saddam Hussein: The U.S. Tilts Towards Iraq, 1980-1984." The National Security Archive. 25 Feb 2003. 1 May 2007 .

Sepehri, Saman. "Twenty-Five Years After The Iranian Revolution." Socialist Workers Online. 27 Feb 2004. Socialist Workers. 1 May 2007 .

This research took me more than three hours to put together. Most of all it was hard finding credible sources, I must have paged through at least twenty sources but it was hard to find something that wasn’t published with the sole purpose of making America look bad, although that’s not hard to do with this situation. I decided to do this research because I felt like Satrapi gave a crash course in the history and seemed very mad at America but I wasn’t completely aware of why. I think this clears it up.

Monkey Bridge--Reader Response

Monkey Bridge, by Lan Cao, is the story of two Vietnamese refugees, a mother and daughter, trying to live in America in 1979. The novel showcases the difficulties of emigration and transition for different generations while giving beautiful descriptions of the Vietnamese culture itself. But more than this, Monkey Bridge is the story of a teenage girl trying to make amends with her traumatized mother.

When I first read about “The Accident [that] had been diagnosed as permanent” which consisted of scar tissue which spread across Cao’s mother’s face, I assumed that it was somehow symbolic of her mother’s permanent state of distress while living in America. But upon finding out at the end of the novel that the scar was actually caused by “Clusters of bright yellow flames [that] burst through a high-explosive mix of gasoline a jelly” (251), not a kitchen flame which “caught on a silk scarf loosely wrapped around her neck” (3), I think that the scar actually symbolizes the inner torment she carries with her always because of the shame from her father’s actions.

One thing that I thought was interesting was the way Cao’s mother seemed to be two different women (if not more). She is a haggling French-educated woman in Vietnam who believes in the healing power of charms and astrology, while being a grocer in America who is always worried. Also, she cannot speak English well and relies on her daughter to do it for her (example of apartment rooms), but writes beautifully of her homeland in exquisite imagery (example). Also, Cao’s mother is enthralled with motherhood but seems very bitter over wifehood, although she left herself three years to mourn the death of her husband.

Lan Cao stresses the differences between the United States and Vietnam in the book as well. “In the United States, there was no such thing as ‘one wrong move.” She describes the states as a place of limitless possibilities where people can rewrite their endings (example) and even sometimes their beginnings (example).

One thing that seemed very important to be me was the symbolism of the sea horse. Vietnam is described as “a long twisted peninsula hanging on the caost of the South China Sea like a starved sea horse waiting for happier days” (150). And then her “mother’s silhouette cast a faint sea-horse curve against the dark window-shine” (161). And even later her mother describes her own body “hunched and twisted like the sea-horse shape of Vietnam itself” (174). Finally Cao ends the book by stating “Outside, a faint sliver of what only two weeks ago had been a full moon dangled like a sea horse from the sky.” I’m wonder why this theme reoccurred so much throughout the book. Possibly because Cao wanted to show that her mother was also a symbol of her homeland. The narrator is uncertain of the history of her country but respects it, but is also ashamed of it, like her mother (example of ashamed of country, example of ashamed of mother, scar?) She also has trouble leaving her country’s past and tries to get it back because she has been taught her soul is there, and she has been taught that she and her mother share the same DNA and karma.

The mother-daughter relationship of the book was the most intriguing to me because I don’t really relate to it. My mother and I have a very close relationship in which we talk about everything, but Lan’s only link to her mother is reading the “papers” that she writes late at night which she thinks she is forbidden from. The relationship seems very close when the two describe it, but also very distant as well. They know and love each other and are willing to make sacrifices, but they have a lot of trouble talking about what they feel and want. Finally, Cao’s mother feels that she must kill herself just so she can provide freedom for her daughter. The mother daughter roldes are reversed because Lan is forced to take care of her mother after the stroke and even before this, Lan had to become “the keeper of the word” (37) and her mother became a child (35).

The title of the novel confused me for a long time because the idea of a monkey bridge is not introduced until page 109. Even then it is not until much later that we can see the significance of a monkey bridge. A monkey bridge is “how rivers are crossed by boatless peasants” (179). And I believe they are a true symbolism for the “one wrong move” idea. Almost as if life is a giant river which with must cross and our choices create a thin path, almost impossible to cross. One wrong move and we can fall off, like Lan’s mother.

Persepolis--Close Analysis

Marjane Satrapi’s graphic novel, Persepolis, was written to explain the middle east in a simple way to the western world. The author shows the similarities between the cultures so that we may understand her better. Satrapi then shows a captivated audience that some of the major conflicts in the Middle East have been caused, and made bloodier by the industrialized nations.

The cultural similarities between the Middle Eastern and developed nations are explained through many allusions throughout the novel. Characters in the novel play Monopoly, dress in punk rock clothes, and sing to American music. All of these cultural activities are from the western world but have been melded into the story so that we may understand that Iran is not as backwards as many Americans expect it to be. While this is true, westerners can also see what a huge impact the industrialized nations have on the rest of the world. One of the two refugee boys who spend a few nights at Marji’s house tells her “At my house, we have all the Star Wars stuff” (91). This cultural similarity seems almost paradoxical because although the boys are familiar with the hit movie, they are also refugees in a warring nation. Satrapi also hints to the reader that this book is aimed at the developed nations in the pictures; the two spoiled boys are wrapped in a blanket with white stars on it while Marji has a blanket with strips, reminiscent of the American flag (91)

Marji is not excited that her parents are going to Turkey until they tell her that all the “‘hip stuff’” (126) from the west that enter Iran are from Turkey. After hearing this Marji lists off the things she would like that we would expect American children to ask for on a daily basis; she wants “a denim jacket, a poster, no two posters, one of Kim Wilde, and one of Iron Maiden” (126). These allusions make the characters, especially Marji, more understandable, and it is thus easier to empathize with her later.

After making Marji relatable to the reader and showing that the cultures are not as different as one might expect, the author demonstrates that industrialized countries actually fuel the strife of the Middle East which inhibits the region’s development. For example, Britain fueled the revolution just so they could get Iran’s oil reserves: “You just give us the oil and we’ll take care of the rest” (21) a British aristocrat says to Reza, the revolutionary and future king. Even before this Satrapi, shows her claim graphically when she says that her people have endured tyranny from many sources including the “modern imperialism,” under which she shows Uncle Sam and a man holding the British flag (11). Marji’s father explains the suppression of Iran by America with the logic that “All that interests him [Jimmy Carter] is oil” (43). Mr. Satrapi says this after the U.S. president refused to give the Shah asylum in the United States, even though the U.S. had supported the Shah before.

Satrapi then explains that some industrialized nations did not only start the wars, they made them more bloody and gruesome by giving money and weaponry to both sides of the war. “Our torturers received special training from the C.I.A.” (50) Mohsen casually explains. And later, at the hospital, a doctor explains to the Satrapi family that “The Germans sell chemical weapons to Iran and Iraq. The wounded are then sent to Germany to be treated. Veritable human guinea pigs” (122). With this statements melded into the story, Satrapi is trying to tell her audience that her nation is not the only one with sins.

With evidence that Iran’s actions and tyrannical government was fueled by developed nations and that Iran’s wars were made worse because of democratic countries, Satrapi is trying to stop the world from thinking that the Middle East is a backwards region.