Analysis Of Eavan Boland's That The Science Of Cartography Is Limited

Maps depict the geographical features, cities, towns, and landmarks as well as indicate where groups held power in different points of history. Museums exhibit historical and cultural artifacts from different points of history. However, do both maps and museums only tell part of the story? In Eavan Boland’s “That the Science of Cartography is Limited,” she conveys how a certain map, specifically a map of Ireland, does not adequately express the history of Ireland. While in her poem “The Dolls Museum in Dublin,” Boland finds that the doll represents more than illustrating a holiday attire worn in Dublin. In the context of Boland’s poetry, maps and museums do not sufficiently tell the full story concealed within Irish history so she uses her
Therefore, what the map fails to do for the speaker is tell the history of the famine road, or of the cries of hunger during the famine in Ireland. Boland is providing the reader with the part of the story where the map fails to reveal to others. “The starving Irish such roads to build. / When they died, there the road ended” (Boland 15-16). The famine road went unfinished due to the many deaths caused by the famine. According to Timothy W. Guinnane’s article “The Great Irish Famine and Population: The Long View,” the famine resulted in killing approximately one million people. Not only does the speaker’s map not tell of the significant part of Ireland’s history, it also lacks to illustrate the
The enshrined dolls are a re-creation of Easter in Dublin,” but they represent the past, specifically Easter 1916 . The significance of Easter 1916 was the time when Ireland started a rebellion to end British rule within Ireland. Boland’s opening description of the dolls’ paint looking old and “The cracks along the lips and on the cheeks / cannot be fixed” indicates of the time that has passed in order for Ireland to get to where it is today (Boland 2-3). When it says “To infer the difference / with a terrible stare. But not to feel it. And not know it” refers to the dolls blank stare who is unable to tell the difference between past and present or truly know the underlying history they signify (Boland 43-44). However, the stare can also can represent those who remember the event that has probably been suppressed over