Our Whole Life

“Our Whole Life” Adrienne Rich Although the 1920s had the suffrage of women, women of the time period still faced a multitude of conflict for independence. In her poem “Our Whole Life” Adrienne Rich highlights the painful restrictions of women in the 1920s shifting from a frustrated tone to a defeated voice Rich utilizes gritty diction to portray the rising inner conflict of women. While some women saw suffrage as a victory in the 1920s, many viewed their place in society as restricted and unjust. In the opening of the poem, Rich builds the foundation of her rising conflict with a submissive tone towards the obedient actions of women. Using passive diction, “permissible fibs” (Rich 2) and “a translation” (Rich 1) Rich portrays the daily lies of women as a normalcy in culture. The use of translation subtly reveals that everything women do is changed in some way to suit expectations. Rich then strengthens her acquiescent tone by describing her whole life of lies as “a permissible fib” (Rich 2). The use of
Exasperated, Rich employs gnawing diction to reveal her frustration. The fibs from the opening of the poem grow into “knots of lies” (Rich 3) demonstrating that the fibs have been occurring for too long as they have transformed into lengthy, overwhelming knots. Rich uses “Lies” (Rich 3) to convey the severity of women restraining their voices. Desperately the truth tries to escape the lies, as the lies “[eat] at [themselves] to get undone” The use of the word eat gives the lies an animalistic feel, conveying the caged like feeling of women. Rich then expresses the limits of women when speaking “words biting thru words” (Rich 3) the misspelling of through highlights the brevity of a woman’s causes the meaning to be incorrect like the spelling. Rich’s tone appears to be on the brink of revolt revealing the cruelty in obedience women display, but at the peak of the climax Rich’s conflict