Woodchucks Poem Analysis

In Maxine Kumin’s poem “Woodchucks”, the reader is led into a short tale of a woman whom is dealing with a family of woodchucks that are eating away at her garden. While this poem appears to be a simple tale following this woman’s methods to exterminating the pests, it rather is a poem that uses its speaker to stealthily showcase the potential that humans have for monstrous actions. The speaker, while appearing to be a sensible person turned deranged by the joyous feel of power and success, is a mere vessel to personify a hidden fiend lying within humans, in general.
Poems hold a different meaning from reader to reader, as to be expected, but if delved deep enough it can be easily deciphered that the speaker in Maxine Kumin’s “Woodchucks” is a much more complex part of this poem. While she is brought into the picture as a seemingly merciful person merely trying to save her crops from pests, she is quickly evolved into a killer that she, herself, doesn’t even expect to become.
Maxine Kumin smoothly transitioned the speaker into a broader stance in these final lines: “If only they’d all consented to die unseen / gassed underground the quiet Nazi way” (29-30). This was the final key into understanding the character behind the speaker because it was what finally broadened the focus from this fictional speaker and pulled it towards a sweeping view of the many ordinary people who took part in cruel acts as Nazis. This line brought along a crucial moment because it widened the lens and allowed this murderous urge to be seen in more than just this one woman. Instead, this reference to the Nazis made it clear that the speaker was, in reality, a vessel used to show how even the most ordinary of people have this inner fiend that can be awoken and escalated by the right