Photograph: Ice Storm, By Natasha Trethewey Essay

Abusive relationships are not always easy to see. On the outside looking in, things can seem normal but underneath the makeup and long sleeves the ugly truth can be revealed. In the poem “Photograph: Ice Storm, 1971”, found in Natasha Trethewey’s collection of poems Native Guard, depicts Trethewey’s resentment towards her stepfather for abusing her mother through the use of vivid imagery and tone shifts throughout this short piece. This poem is about a photograph taken of Natasha Trethewey with her mother and stepfather outside of their home after a violent ice storm caused their house to lose power and kept everyone inside for days. Outside the background is depicted as a majestic scene that beauty masks Trethewey’s mother’s suffering. This poems main goal is to show that photographs are not always as they appear to be. Even in a perfect family photo she sees how obvious her mothers suffering is and the memory of that miracles day is shattered by her abusive stepfather.
Vivid imagery is used through out the poem to demonstrate where Trethewey’s resentment towards her stepfather comes from. The last line of the poem reveals why her mother is suffering and gives us the explanation in a very powerful, yet subtle way. She states “what’s inside—mother, stepfather’s fist?” (line 15). Here she’s telling us
It’s easy to see that she is mourning the death of her mother and holds her stepfather accountable for her mothers suffering. Through the uses a vivid imagery Trethewey is able to show that the true enemy of those few days spent inside was her stepfather and not the ice storm. She also uses tone shift to clearly show who was responsible for the pain that she saw so clearly in the photograph. This photograph to Trethewey was more of a reminder of what her stepfather put her family through rather than the wonders of a freak ice storm that blew into town and she resents him for