Carrie Fountain Experience Summary

In Carrie Fountain’s “Experience,”, she introduces the idea that, with time and action, experience is gained and the impact this has on a person. Throughout the poem, Fountain illustrates how much one changes over time, how growth only happens through experience, and how our innate desire to fit in affects us.
In Carrie Fountain’s “experience” she discusses the idea of our ephemeral nature as humans. The poem begins with “When I think of everything I’ve wanted / I feel sick” (1-2), this illustrates how the things she wanted in the past no longer are of any interest to her. That although her past self “wanted so badly” (9) in the present she couldn’t care less. This is articulated further when she states, “Thank god time erases everything / in this steady impeccable
way.” (17-18), she is thankful that her desires of the past are washed away by time because if she was still plagued with her past wishes, she would be disgusted. The theme of growth is exemplified by Fountain’s description of how much one changes through the years.
As a qualifier to her initial statement, Fountain focuses on how time alone does not change anything. That one must act and gain experiences in order to make meaningful change. That “if we’d been quiet / we wouldn’t have heard anything” (29-30) demonstrates that, if while younger, they had done things differently or did not act on their desires, she wouldn’t have become the person she is now. As one goes through the years and develops with experience it can seem as though “it’s like / I never lived that life” (18-19). This relates back to how much one changes throughout change and how your desires can and will change with experience.
Although our nature and desires are ethereal, people always desire to fit in with the group and make changes to themselves in order to belong.
While getting beaten up, the younger boy believed ““It was an initiation” (16). This exemplifies how we are capable of justifying even getting beaten up if it means for us to fit in, that we will do anything and accept anything to belong. Fountain states that “I wanted so badly that night / to believe violence was a little bell you could ring / and get what you wanted” (9-11). She does this to illustrate that, during our youth, we will abandon what we believe to be true and just in order to be part of the in group and that only through experience do we realize that there is more to life than just belonging.
In the poem “Experience,”, by Carrie Fountain, the ephemeralness of a person’s nature is exemplified. Fountain illustrates how much one changes over time, how growth only happens through experience and not simply the passage of time and how our innate desire to fit in affects us. The overarching theme for this poem is that although right now you have desires and wishes that seem incredibly important and as if they will never change, that simply is not
true.