Analysis "Hanging Fire" & "Barbie Doll"
Thesis Statement & Introduction An analysis of the literary elements imagery, symbolism, and tone/mood in “Barbie Doll”, by Marge Piercy and, “Hanging Fire” by Audre Lorde reveals each character and their struggle with their identity in society.
Summary of “Barbie Doll” In the poem “Barbie Doll” by Marge Piercy, we read about a young girl who has self image problems. Due to the expectations of society, she is not happy with her physical appearance. She had many good qualities but is unable to see these for herself. Instead she only sees is a “a great big nose and fat legs”(Piercy,1936). In order to conform to society’s idea of beauty, the young girl was “advised to play coy, exhorted to come on hearty, exercise, diet, smile and wheedle.”(Piercy, 1936) The pressures became too much for her to handle. She could no longer live this way so she “cut off her nose and her legs/and offered them up.”(Piercy, 1936) The author states that finally, the girl has achieved acceptance, but not on the qualities of her character or her being; rather, through the unwilling compromise to culture.
Summary of “Hanging Fire” The poem “Hanging Fire”, by Audre Lorde is about the hardships of a teenager who is possibly growing up during the tense civil rights movement era, and is afraid for her life. She is scared about growing up and has many insecurities. There are many things she wants to do such as, learn to dance & be on the math team. The young girl has self confidence problems due to her appearance. For example she states, “my skin has betrayed me,” ( Lorde, 1978) meaning there are many things she feels she cannot do because her skin is not white. She also asks, “how come my knees are always so ashy?” (Lorde, 1978) She continues to refer to her mother throughout the poem as being in the bedroom with the door closed. Without her mothers’ guidance, she is struggling in society because she has no guidance. Lorde argues that anyone enduring these forces would feel
Summary of “Barbie Doll” In the poem “Barbie Doll” by Marge Piercy, we read about a young girl who has self image problems. Due to the expectations of society, she is not happy with her physical appearance. She had many good qualities but is unable to see these for herself. Instead she only sees is a “a great big nose and fat legs”(Piercy,1936). In order to conform to society’s idea of beauty, the young girl was “advised to play coy, exhorted to come on hearty, exercise, diet, smile and wheedle.”(Piercy, 1936) The pressures became too much for her to handle. She could no longer live this way so she “cut off her nose and her legs/and offered them up.”(Piercy, 1936) The author states that finally, the girl has achieved acceptance, but not on the qualities of her character or her being; rather, through the unwilling compromise to culture.
Summary of “Hanging Fire” The poem “Hanging Fire”, by Audre Lorde is about the hardships of a teenager who is possibly growing up during the tense civil rights movement era, and is afraid for her life. She is scared about growing up and has many insecurities. There are many things she wants to do such as, learn to dance & be on the math team. The young girl has self confidence problems due to her appearance. For example she states, “my skin has betrayed me,” ( Lorde, 1978) meaning there are many things she feels she cannot do because her skin is not white. She also asks, “how come my knees are always so ashy?” (Lorde, 1978) She continues to refer to her mother throughout the poem as being in the bedroom with the door closed. Without her mothers’ guidance, she is struggling in society because she has no guidance. Lorde argues that anyone enduring these forces would feel
References: http://www.americanpoems.com/poets/Marge-Piercy http://www.margepiercy.com/Piercy%20Website/sampling/Barbie_Doll.htm Poem http://www.poetryfoundation.org/bio/audre-lorde http://famouspoetsandpoems.com/poets/audre_lorde/poems/19831 Poem [->0] - ../essay_search/Audre_Lorde.html [->1] - ../essay_search/Audre_Lorde.html