In the poem "Red Fox" by Margaret Atwood, the harsh diction, disoriented structure, and the important extended metaphor as seen in the title all lead to the theme that people will do anything to save themselves.
Throughout this poem , there are many words which connote corruption, such as "trickster", "thief", and "steals". This shows that people will do anything and turn into anything to save themselves. There was also an allusion to the story of Hansel and Gretel in order to show that even someone who you'd assume to be selfless, such as a mother or a father, will often become corrupt in order to look after their own interests.
The extended metaphor of the red fox can be seen as what people will turn into when they are trying to save themselves. Since foxes are seen as thieves and being sneaky, by comparing them to suffering people, this shows that people will turn to criminal behavior or doing things that they normally would not consider doing in order to end their own suffering.
The structure of this poem also has no pattern of ryhme scheme or within the stanzas. None of the stanzas show a pattern of the number of lines in them or a pattern of syllables within the lines. This lack of structure or rhyme scheme shows that life has no pattern, and you never know what's going to happen next. It also shows that we don't know what we would do if we were put in a situation like the red fox in this poem. This disorganized structure shows that we can't predict how we would act if we were put in a situation where we had to save ourselves.
In conclusion, the diction, the extended metaphor, and the stucture of the poem "Red Fox" by Margaret Atwood all contribute to the theme that people will do anything to save themselves, and that no one can predict what they would do if they were put in such a position.
2 comments:
I like how you included the reference to the structure of the poem and how it relates to how people become in the situation. It really got me thinking away from the clear-cut references because personally, this poem was really easy to identify what it was about but once you referred to things like the structure, you can really see how it relates, well said!
When i first read this poem, i didn't realize that atwood personified the fox. But now that i look at the diction, i can see that the fox is personified and atwood allows the fox to take on a character of its own. It's now a desperate person that is starving and has no morals. I kinda thought of mother animals as being noble and generous to their offspring. I guess atwood shows the other side of it and contradicts popular belief; especially with her reference to the hansel and gretel story.
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