Woodchucks by Maxine Kumin
Woodchucks
“Woodchucks” by Maxine Kumin is a poem that describes the gardener annoying and disturbing situation with woodchucks in his farm. Woodchucks were eating and destroying vegetables; therefore, he really attempted to get rid of them and solve his problem. This poem is apparently the story about the difficulties of one farmer; however, it has a deeper meaning and relate to the Holocaust. Besides, the gardener demeanor changed, and the violence increased from stanza to stanza.
In the first stanza, he tried to kill woodchucks by cyanide gas, but this plan did not work. Moreover, he thought this way is the quickest one to stop them. Woodchucks dug their burrow in sub-sub-basement, so they survived from the first massacre. In the second stanza, life for woodchucks went on like before and noting changed. They continued their “brought down the marigolds”, “took over the vegetable patch” and “nipping the broccoli shoots, beheading the carrots”. The gardener was enraged by woodchucks destroying action; thus, his decision in order to kill them was strengthened.
In the third stanza, the poet explain another reason for killing woodchucks “the food from our mouths, I said, righteously thrilling”. Now, it is necessary to kill them. In other words, it is obsession to get rid of them. If there is no food for my family, we will die. As a result, he decided to kill them with a gun. It is clear that violence is going to higher level. He justified himself with Darwin’s famous idea about evolution and adaption. He believed in the “survival of fittest”, so he began his genocide. He killed “one-two-three” woodchucks also the mother when “her needle teeth still hooked in a leaf of early Swiss chard”. In other words, he confirmed himself because woodchucks continued their wrong tasks.
In the last stanza, poet demonstrated that the problem is not solving “there is one chuck left.” Therefore, the solution for this problem was not the appropriate one, and the difficulties still
“Woodchucks” by Maxine Kumin is a poem that describes the gardener annoying and disturbing situation with woodchucks in his farm. Woodchucks were eating and destroying vegetables; therefore, he really attempted to get rid of them and solve his problem. This poem is apparently the story about the difficulties of one farmer; however, it has a deeper meaning and relate to the Holocaust. Besides, the gardener demeanor changed, and the violence increased from stanza to stanza.
In the first stanza, he tried to kill woodchucks by cyanide gas, but this plan did not work. Moreover, he thought this way is the quickest one to stop them. Woodchucks dug their burrow in sub-sub-basement, so they survived from the first massacre. In the second stanza, life for woodchucks went on like before and noting changed. They continued their “brought down the marigolds”, “took over the vegetable patch” and “nipping the broccoli shoots, beheading the carrots”. The gardener was enraged by woodchucks destroying action; thus, his decision in order to kill them was strengthened.
In the third stanza, the poet explain another reason for killing woodchucks “the food from our mouths, I said, righteously thrilling”. Now, it is necessary to kill them. In other words, it is obsession to get rid of them. If there is no food for my family, we will die. As a result, he decided to kill them with a gun. It is clear that violence is going to higher level. He justified himself with Darwin’s famous idea about evolution and adaption. He believed in the “survival of fittest”, so he began his genocide. He killed “one-two-three” woodchucks also the mother when “her needle teeth still hooked in a leaf of early Swiss chard”. In other words, he confirmed himself because woodchucks continued their wrong tasks.
In the last stanza, poet demonstrated that the problem is not solving “there is one chuck left.” Therefore, the solution for this problem was not the appropriate one, and the difficulties still