Sylvia Plath is said to be one the most prodigious, yet interesting, confessional poets of her time. She was an extremely vital poet of the post-World War II time period and expressed her feelings towards her father and husband through her poetry. Plath’s mental illness had a dramatic influence upon her work in which she demonstrated the hatred she had for her father specifically. The poem “Daddy” is an easily applicable example. Within this piece of work, Plath uses direct references to how she feels towards her father who was the greatest influence on her poetry. The bond, or lack of, between Sylvia Plath and her “Daddy” is commonly associated with the purpose of her poetry. Her father died when Plath was only ten years old and …show more content…
Eileen M. Aird analyzes and comments, “The danger of such criticism lies in its assumption that the poem is objectively ‘true’, that it bears a precise relationship to the facts of the poet’s life.” The direct criticism Plath puts upon her father is very crucial, yet evidently true if one was research her life. Sylvia Plath’s autobiographical poetry can be easily connected to her life and the answers to the many questions are easier to uncover than one may suspect. As her poetry developed, it became more autobiographical and although through her teenage years she possessed what seemed to be a rounded personality, the anguish and grief of her father’s death was easily linked with her mental instability that haunted her in the later years. Her time period is easily reflected in the poem with the severity in her reference to Nazis, swastikas, barbed wire, fascists, brutes, devils, and vampires. In “Daddy”, Plath refers to herself as a Jew multiple times, “An engine, an engine Chuffing me off like a Jew. A Jew to Dachau, Auschwitz, Belsen. I began to talk like a Jew. I think I may well be a Jew.”
The extremity Plath went to to emphasize these references during her time period were enough to make any soul cringe. World War II’s concentration camps are still enough over half a century later to make one shudder in despair. The rage Plath has for her father is so easily conveyed to the reader that an illiterate individual could pick up on it, let
Over 5 million people died between 1933 and 1945. Additionally, around half of these deaths happened in a concentration camp. This point in time is commonly referred to as the Holocaust. In Elie Wiesel’s book "Night” that documents Elie Wiesel’s struggles in a ghetto and then being transported throughout Germany to these awful places that are made for death. However, in the novel “Night,” Elie Wiesel uses dialog, ellipses, and symbolism to show the bond he has with his father. (73)
In Night, the author uses negative, descriptive vocabulary, in the form of similes and metaphors, to convey the fear and the pain the prisoners of the holocaust experienced. At the time of the holocaust, people lived in constant fear of the Nazis plan, the jews and gypsies were fearful for their families. People cried, “ tears, like drops of wax flowed from [their] eyes.” (page 7); tears expressed the inmates grief. Tear typically
In the history of the Holocaust, impactful events have signified a cause for the dehumanization of many Jews. Elie Wiesel in Night relates to a crisis of poisoning in the events that he experiences throughout the story. From examining Elie witnessing the horrors of concentration camps and the deaths of many people through harsh conditions, it is clear that Elie’s attitude, outlook, and identity changed throughout his time in the Holocaust. Elie Wiesel in Night experiences times of dehumanization throughout his time in the concentration camps. During the Holocaust, Elie Wiesel and other prisoners were poisoned of their dignity in an event.
When a person recalls an emotional situation, it can be difficult for them to explain to others exactly how they felt when the event occurred. Authors attempt to communicate these tough experiences using a variety of literary devices—which include symbolism, irony, and theme. Night by Elie Wiesel, and First They Killed My Father by Loung Ung are two pieces of literature that recollect the memories of the authors during traumatic events; Night is set during the Holocaust, while the latter is set in Cambodia during the harsh rule of Pol Pot. The literary devices present in each text are utilized by Wiesel and Ung in unique and similar ways to communicate the extent of what they felt .
Sylvia Plath uses her poem, Daddy, to express deep emotions toward her father’s life and death. With passionate articulation, she verbally turns over her feelings of rage, abandonment, confusion and grief. Though this work is fraught with ambiguity, a reader can infer Plath’s basic story. Her father was apparently a Nazi soldier killed in World War II while she was young. Her statements about not knowing even remotely where he was while he was in battle, the only photograph she has left of him and how she chose to marry a man that reminded her of him elude to her grief in losing her father and missing his presence. She also expresses a dark anger toward him for his political views and actions
“Human suffering anywhere concerns men and women everywhere.” The Holocaust, led by Hitler, targeted the Jews, LGBTQ individuals, physically and mentally disabled people and members of political opposition groups. Elie Wiesel in his novel, Night, focuses on his experience as well as the expense of fellow Jews during their time in the concentration camps. Wiesel, in his novel, shows the deshumanization during the Holocaust by portraying the loss of basic human rights, the loss of their individuality, and the loss of familial connections for the Jews and prisoners of the concentration camps.
In the poem “Daddy,” Sylvia Plath describes her true feelings about her deceased father. Throughout the dialogue, the reader can find many instances that illustrate a great feeling of hatred toward the author’s father. She begins by expressing her fears of her father and how he treated her. Subsequently she conveys her outlook on the wars being fought in Germany. She continues by explaining her life since her father and how it has related to him.
In Plath’s poem she frequently uses figurative language about Nazis and the Holocaust. Plath depicts herself as a victim by saying she is like a Jew, and her father is like a Nazi. Plath uses a train engine as a metaphor for her father speaking the German Language, and also to depict herself as a victimized Jew being taken away to a concentration camp.
Through the experiences of the characters, Akiba Drumer, Moishe the Beadle, and the two executed young men, Wiesel exhibits how the oppressiveness of the concentration camps causes these victims to ultimately lose faith and self-respect in response to the injustices they face. To illustrate, Wiesel uses pathetic fallacy to unify and mimic the setting with the mood. With the migration to new settings, Eliezer is introduced to more violence, his body’s strength drastically weakens, and his hope for liberation and peace is diminished. The symbolic “Never shall I forget that night” (Wiesel 45) not only creates an earnest mood, but also depicts the use of night as a motif.
How Sylvia Plath's Life is Reflected in the Poems Daddy, Morning Song, and Lady Lazarus
Sylvia Plath’s poem “Daddy,” is about a girl who has lost her father at a young age, and since his death, she cannot stop thinking about him. The speaker appears to be Plath consumed in metaphors that resemble the way she feels about her father and former husband. Plath’s father passed away when she was only eight in the poem she states, “I was ten when they buried you. At twenty I
Sylvia Plath had the ability to get emotional responses through her word-pictures and poems. Plath was also able to create a picture from her trip to Spain, tied up ships, or even a beautiful beach setting (Magill 2225). Spring of 1959, Plath randomly wrote “Johnny Panic and the Bible of Dream,” a first-person short story that is written in a voice that resembles terror (Hughes 1). Plath later work shows the strong dissatisfaction of her dreams. Plath dreamt of discovering cheerfulness through work, marriage, and family, which was a disappointment, caused by a miscarriage and appendectomy, her divorce, and mood swings. Plath felt defenseless to men and apocalyptic to natural forces, mainly death (Draper 2734). Plath’s post-obituary writings imitate the persisting importance in her work. Three Women: A Monologue for Three Voices (1968), originally published on British Radio in 1962, discusses pregnancy of three women (Draper 2735). Plath was inspired to write “The Jailer” which was about her husband who drugged then raped her. Plath eventually became “The Lever of His Wet Dreams.” The exact prodigy occurs in most of her confessional poems, mainly in “Daddy” (Magill 2224). Plath’s tone changes throughout most of her poems (Magill 2228). In “Daddy,” Plath tells about herself being rebellious in her poems (Magill 2229). “No writer has meant more to the current feminist movement.”
Although everyone has a father, the relationship that each person has with his or her father is different. Some are close to their fathers, while some are distant; some children adore their fathers, while other children despise them. For example, in Robert Hayden’s poem “Those Winter Sundays” Hayden writes about his regret that he did not show his love for his hardworking father sooner. In Sylvia Plath’s “Daddy,” she writes about her hatred for her brute father. Despite both authors writing on the same topic, the two pieces are remarkably different. Sylvia Plath’s “Daddy” and Robert Hayden’s “Those Winter Sundays” have different themes that are assembled when the authors put their different uses of imagery, tone, and characterization together.
You may begin by commenting on the different definitions available for ideology in general as well as the theory of feminism. Feminism is discussed in this course as an example of modern theories and is often associated with the issue of ideology. Your discussion should refer to the discussion of these terms as well as the major elements connected to them (e.g. gender, écriture feminine, patriarchy, etc.). In your analysis of the poem you may want to ask questions concerning Plath’s personal life and her relationship to male figures in her family. Do you read the poem as a personal or a political poem? Would you characterize Plath as a feminist poet? Always
By just reading Sylvia Plath’s works of writing, it is apparent that she had an infatuation with portraying negative and brutal thoughts. For example, her poem “Daddy,” she clearly expresses her rage towards her deceased father. The poem is full of contradiction and the interpretation is up the reader. Pieces like this gives insight into Sylvia’s mental sanity, which was questioned at times. In her early