The Summer Day Mary Oliver Analysis

In this poem “The Summer Day” by Mary Oliver, the narrator starts off with an inquiry with a self-evident answer,“ who made the world?”; most people, including myself, will answer God. The next two lines are also inquiry of a similar theme; Oliver is not so much contending with a God complex but she is confronting society standards. The next lines concentrate on a grasshopper. By personifying a grasshopper, Oliver portrays life is precious and each life is different and should be appreciated because of those differences. Every person is made in God’s image, so why are some people treated differently for traits they cannot change? Why is there racial profiling? Why are women being paid less for doing the same job? Why do some people dedicate
their lives to taking human rights away from certain groups of hardworking, honest people? Disrespecting God’s creation is disrespecting God. There is no justifiable reason to berate innocent people in the name of God. Oliver saying “Tell me, what else should I have done?” is her way of speaking on the behalf of these people who did nothing to warrant malicious treatment. The truth is, many of the people who discriminate in the name of God towards innocent people, are struggling with an internal conflict themselves.