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Part One: Reflection
Write a strong TEA paragraph in which you summarize and compare how all three authors use an extended metaphor to write about life or growing up.
In each of the pieces we examined this week, Richard Wilbur’s “The Writer,” Lorna Crozier’s “Packing for the Future,” and “Miracle” by Harry Thurston, is expressed the conflicting feelings of parents torn between wanting to shelter their children from the world, and wanting to launch their children into it. Wilbur recognizes the weightiness of his daughter’s struggles, calling the stuff of her life “a great cargo, and some of it heavy,” and also acknowledges his obligation keep from interfering with her creating her own destiny, as when he “retreated” to allow the bird to have a chance to find its own way out. Crozier includes many items in her packing list designed to protect and prevent harm, for example the socks, yet she also advises to “leave room” for the things the future may hold that are of importance even if they may be accompanied by hurt and sadness. Thurston prevents his toddler daughter from plucking a strawberry blossom before it ripens into a “sweet fruit,” then regrets holding her back from her own curiosity and desires. These conflicting desires of parents constitute a universal theme present in all three of the poems we explored this week. As I write this, my teething toddler lies across my lap, and I think about the times when I will simultaneously want to keep him safe from and want to support him to discover his world.
Part Two: Looking Ahead
Find out something about Sylvia Plath's life and death. Identify areas where there is overlap with "Daddy." Are the details always accurate? Why would an author choose to write her life in this way? Jeanette Winterson wrote: "There is no autobiography; there is only art and lies." Do you think Plath would agree with her?
Sylvia Plath experienced numerous tragedies in her short life that greatly influenced her writing. Her father's death from complications of diabetes left her with feelings of abandonment, loss, betrayal, and hurt that developed into hatred and rage. In "Daddy," she associates her father with her husband, who betrays her in another way. While this piece is primarily drawn from her experiences with her father, her husband, and her psychological problems, it incorporates other themes about the Holocaust and feminist issues as well. An author may choose to add or subtract or alter details about her life in this way in the name of art. Plath likely did not expect her work to be taken as a literal interpretation of her life; it provided a starting point for her work. Isn't that what poetic licence is?