Sound and Sense #201. Siren Song - Margaret Atwood

Having read Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, I found a clear message in this poem right away. Although Atwood is not necessarily the speaker, I can pick out her voice coming through this poem, for she is a strong promoter of women's rights. Not having previous knowledge of the author would have made this poem more difficult to understand. It is clear that the speaker, whoever it may be, is resentful of her job as a siren. She is simply being used for her voice, beauty, and femininity to seduce sailors and trick them into coming ashore, where they will surely meet their deaths. "I don't enjoy it here / squatting on this island / looking picturesque and mythical" (Atwood 13-15). She is stuck with this job only because she is a woman, and she feels suppressed by it. What she really wants is help, "This song / is a cry for help: Help me!" (21, 22).


One major literary device used in this poem is allusion, for the entire poem is an allusion to Greek mythology. A siren is a beautiful woman/creature with bird-like characteristics who lures sailors to their deaths with her beauty and voice. Using Greek mythology to portray a current concern, women's rights, stresses its importance. If this issue can be dated as far back as Greek mythology goes, it is clearly an issue that must be addressed. The speaker is basically saying that it's about time someone should fix this problem, seeing as it has been around since the beginning of time.
Another literary device used is repetition. The speaker, the siren, uses repetition when addressing the reader, "I will tell the secret to you, / to you, only to you / ...Help me! / Only you, only you can, / you are unique" (19-24). This repetition stresses that the reader of this poem, "you," is the only person that can possibly help her. "You" is someone who is reading these words that the siren has written - they have not been seduced or put under the influence of her beauty or voice. The reader is not a pitiful sailor who has fallen for the siren's beautiful song, but is now the only person who knows of her true feelings and thoughts, for all others who have met her are dead. It is as though this poem is a message in a bottle that the speaker put out as her last chance of being rescued from her suppressing role as a siren. It also makes it more personal, and it hits the reader at a deeper level than if she did not address them at all. To try and get her point across as best as possible, the speaker must emphasize that this single, unique reader is her only chance, her last hope.


This poem is written in free verse - there is no rhyme or meter whatsoever. This could perhaps be the speaker's form of rebellion. She has been forced as a siren to sing this "boring song" for years, and by writing in free verse, she is eliminating any element of song. There is no rhyme, no rhythm, no flow or movement, and no repetition of a particular stanza, like a chorus would be repeated.

A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man

One of the various symbols in this novel is the character Emma. She symbolizes purity and innocence, and is the one female character that Stephen does not destroy in his mind when he is exploring his sexual identity. Stephen places her on a pedestal, almost worships her, because she is everything that is good (although he never has a conversation with her). He has such high regards for her that he feels she is in a completely different reality than him and that they will never be at the same level together. Stephen is making these comparisons because he is going through the phase where he feels incredibly sinful for exploring his sexual identity the way he is. Comparing Stephen to Emma gives a better perspective of Stephen's guilt; he feels as though he is the complete opposite of her extreme purity and innocence. Once Stephen finds his own identity and has a conversation with Emma, he sees things in a totally different light. This conversation makes him realize she is human, real, and has faults and impurities of her own. He sees it was unrealistic for him to put her on such a high pedestal; also saying that it was unrealistic of him to ever compare himself to Emma. She did not exist as he imagined her to - perfect, pure, angelic; and he was not the complete devil he thought he was. "Yes, I liked her today. A little or much? Don't know. I liked her and it seems a new feeling to me...O, give it up, old chap! Sleep it off!" (Joyce 275). Stephen finally accepts himself and the way thing are, lets go, and is able to move on with his life.


"A girl stood before him in midstream, alone and still, gazing out to sea. She seemed like one whom magic had changed into the likeness of a strange and beautiful seabird. Her long slender bare legs were delicate as a crane's and pure save where an emerald trail of seaweed had fashioned itself as a sign upon the flesh. Her thighs, fuller and softhued as ivory, were bared almost the the hips where the white fringes of her drawers were like featherings of soft white down. Her slateblue skirts were kilted boldly about her waist and dovetailed behind her. Her bosom was as a bird's soft and slight, slight and soft as the breast of some darkplumaged dove. But her long fair hair was girlish: and girlish, and touched with the wonder of mortal beauty, her face." (185, 186)

This passage stands out because it is one of the most important turning points in the novel. Stephen finally sees a girl as a beautiful, natural creation, rather than associating her with sex and ruining her image. The repetition of the words "soft and slight" in reference to her bosom suggests a modest figure, one that Stephen does not see and instantly relate to sex. "Girlish" is also repeated in this passage, implying girlhood innocence and purity. It goes on to say, "Her image had passed into his soul for ever and no word had broken the holy silence of his ecstasty...A wild angel had appeared to him, the angel of mortal youth and beauty, an envoy from the fair courts of life, to throw open before him in an instant of ecstasy the gates of all the ways of error and glory" (186). Although Stephen has overcome his sinful idea of women, he has yet to remove those innocent and pure from the pedestal he has raised them upon, as discussed above. This accomplishment will come at the end of the novel when Stephen and Emma finally have a conversation.

Because Stephen compares her to a "beautiful seabird" this passage also relates to flight, a common theme in the novel. At this point, Stephen has just rejected the priesthood but has yet to fully discover his inner artist. He is beginning to think for himself. The idea of flight and freedom allows him to make his own decisions, live his own life, and not be suppressed by Ireland or the traditions of his family or any religion. It is incredible that Stephen can actually see this freedom in her, whereas earlier in the novel he was trapped also by women.



"A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man" is definitely an interesting read, however, I am leery to commit to saying that I like it or dislike it. On the positive side is Joyce's language, for one. Those paragraphs of the preacher's speech on hell are, although rather morbid, phenomenal. Joyce is able to chose the most appropriate words for each situation, almost like poetry, when the sound the word makes fits the tone of the work. One aspect of the novel that can be both good and bad is the theme of finding one's individual consciousness. This is something that everyone experiences at some point in their lives, and most of us teenagers are trying to find ourselves now. This makes the book easy to relate to; however, it is the extremity of this search that is the downfall. At his worst, Stephen's mind is so deep and dark that I almost no longer want to read it. His struggles and pitfalls are depressing, and because Joyce's language is so vivid, I feel as though I am struggling right along with him. Unfortunately, the depth of Stephen's mind is so cumbersome that it makes it difficult to read.

Heart of Darkness

I managed to find one symbol in Conrad's Heart of Darkness that we hadn't already discussed fully in class, and it is the Congo River. Obviously, the river is what takes Marlow into the heart of darkness, it is his journey, the path he takes into his inner soul. However, why does Marlow rarely step foot on the land, the actual soil of the Congo? The river is Marlow's safe haven - it prevents him from ever having to make direct physical contact with the darkness and evil. The river water is only passing through, flowing by, and it is the land that is evil. It's as though Marlow is simply on a tour of the land; he has the option of getting off the tour bus and staying, or remaining on the bus and returning to his true home. The river allows Marlow to escape if need be, such as when the natives attack him as he nears Kurtz. Had Marlow traveled by land, it is very improbable that he would have survived the attack. Had Marlow traveled by land, it is very likely that he, like Kurtz, would have been enveloped by the darkness and never escaped.

At the start of reading this novel, we were given topics to research in order to obtain some background of the novel. One of these topics was Chinua Achebe, a Nigerian author, poet, and critic. As we learned, Achebe gave a lecture, An Image of Africa: Racism in Conrad's "Heart of Darkness", accusing Joseph Conrad of disrespecting African culture, being racist, and all for white supremacy, which he apparently demonstrated in this novel. I must disagree. Concerning Conrad's word choice, as we discussed, Conrad is partly a product of his times. In 1902 racism was clearly in full swing, as displayed by the actions of King Leopold II. Civil rights still had a long way to come. As for disrespecting the African culture and promoting white supremacy and imperialism, there is a particular quote which debunks Achebe's accusations,

"The conquest of the earth, which mostly means the taking it away from those who have a different complexion or slightly flatter noses than ourselves, is not a pretty thing when you look into it too much" (Conrad 70)

This demonstrates Marlow's, or Conrad's, understanding of the big picture. Sure, there are a some racy statements sprinkled throughout the novel, but that his simply human nature. We are all judgmental, biased, and prejudice - it just takes some respect and an open mind to keep us from exposing these slanted views. In a novel, it is almost impossible to retain the author's most personal views and opinions. This statement, however, shows that Conrad understands the basics; that labeling someone, taking advantage of them, and persecuting them based on race and culture is wrong.

It was to my surprise that I actually enjoyed this novel. Even before turning to the first page, I was concerned Heart of Darkness would be much too deep and thought-provoking for Christmas break. Fortunately, I enjoyed the mystery and originality of the piece. This was also the first frame narrative that I can recall reading. I believe that Marlow's point of view left more questions unanswered and room for interpretation; for Marlow has a limited view, the reader hears the story through his biases, and who knows what key parts of the story Marlow may have left out, by accident or out privacy's sake. This added to the mystery of the novel, which I most definitely enjoyed.

Invisible Man

Trying to find one symbol in Ellison's Invisible Man is almost impossible, but I will limit myself to the snow in the eviction scene. The snow is mentioned several times, each describing it's degree of cleanliness. Snow is, of course, white, therefore it represents the white society. It is first described as "dirty snow" (271) when the old couple's things are scattered in it. Here it is contaminated; white society is stained by the intrusion of blacks. Later a drawer from the couple's house "spilled its contents into the snow" (272) because the white workers knocked into it. In a way, this represents white society forcing the blacks to assimilate, join the sophisticated white society and abandon their roots. It is next described as "trampled snow" (280) as the blacks attack the marshal. The angry people finally stand up for themselves and attack the marshal, or trample over the law. Finally, as the narrator tries to escape the scene when the police come, he most jump over the "snow caked walls" (285). These are white obstacles, hurdles, getting in the narrator's way as he tries to protect himself.

"In my mind's eye..." (Ellison 36)

Although the remainder of this sentence is incredibly significant (the description of the bronze statue, unveiling or more efficiently blinding the kneeling slave), I believe the first four words tell the reader a lot about the narrator. We were first exposed to I.M. in his passion-filled explanation as to why he is invisible, because of others' blindness. His exact words are "A matter of the construction of their inner eyes," (3) meaning those eyes with which society judges reality upon, whereas their physical eyes see everything without bias. The fact that I.M. would then begin a sentence this way is ironic, for it exposes the fact that he also has these "inner eyes" which are capable of judging and persecuting. Word choice is key in this instance, for I.M. specifies it is his mind's eye that is viewing something, not his unbiased physical eyes. This quote, however, works in favor of I.M. The view described following the four words is one that portrays both sides of an issue: whether or not the slave is being blinded or unveiled by the founder. Had I.M. possessed the same "peculiar disposition of the eyes," (3) as the majority of society does, he would have described the statue in one way, most probably that the slave was being blinded.

For some reason, one that I cannot seem to put my finger on, I did not enjoy Invisible Man very much. I most definitely appreciate Ellison's creativity and incredible use of symbolism, however the story itself was not one of my interest. Let's focus on the positive, though, for this is a masterpiece when it comes to the use of literary devices. Every single page could have been torn apart word for word and discussed for hours on end. My favorite scene that we analyzed was the eviction scene. Each household item listed had some significance, and there was a lot of stuff in that house! What captured my attention the most was the curling iron, straightening comb, and the switches of false hair, which show the African-American's loss of culture and heritage, as they attempt to conform and assimilate into the white society. It is impossible to overlook Ellison's genius in this novel.

Player Piano

As I look back on Vonnegut's Player Piano, I happen to come across something I hadn't given much thought to while I was reading the novel. Noticeably missing from this attempt at a utopian America was the strong presence of any female characters. This America is clearly a patriarchal society. All men run the major corporations and machines, and women are not participants in the games at the Meadows, nor are they even allowed on the same island with the men. Although betrayal is the main downfall of this utopian society, I believe the lack of femininity also plays a role. Women don't necessarily need to be running the works, however, they seem to have barely any type of role in the society. This seems to prove that there is a balance necessary, one between the strong, toughness of men and the softness and sensitivity of females. Just how it is best for a child to be raised by both a mother and father, to generally obtain the toughness from their father and sensitivity from their mother. When a child does something wrong, they admit it to their mother first, knowing she will not punish them as harshly as the father. This is simply nature, the reason why men and women are so different. It certain situations it is to one's advantage to be tough and perhaps, thick-skinned, yet it is also imperative to take it down a notch, and get in touch with one's emotions. The men in Player Piano have been able to turn off their emotions completely and become machines themselves.
This leads into my choice of quote, "Anybody that competes with slaves, becomes a slave." (Vonnegut 281). The men in Player Piano have tried so desperately to create this perfect society that they are becoming machines themselves. They lack emotion, and are losing their human qualities, such as being able to love, and their identities because they are so intent on keeping up with this fast-paced mechanized lifestyle they have created.

Player Piano was definitely a book that I enjoyed. After reading The Handmaid's Tale, I was relieved to read a book such as this. It was a little lighter subject, and the ending was finally one that I enjoyed. The past books we have read all had very disappointing endings, but I am pleased that Paul stood up for himself and wasn't completely demolished by the society he lived in.