Traditionally, the protagonist of most literary works is portrayed as a male. If there is a female in these works, she is a stereotypical young and gorgeous woman who fulfills the hero’s every desire. However, it is unusual that a woman in the story is anything but aesthetically pleasing, unless she is meant to be the antagonist. Women in literature serve as one of the many societal standards that trick young girls into thinking that they must live up to in order to be beautiful. This causes young girls to grow up with the false mindset that if they do not look a certain way no one will love them. Marge Piercy, Sandra Cisneros, and Ellen Kay use poetry to demonstrate the lasting affect literature’s perception of physical appearance has on young girls.
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The bonsai tree in its purest form “could have grown eighty feet tall on the side of a mountain till split by lightning (line 3-5).” Instead of growing to become magnificent, the gardener contains the tree in a small pot, preventing it to grow to its full potential. Everyday as the gardener prunes the tree back he croons, “‘It is your nature to be small and cozy, domestic and weak (lines 12-14).” Suddenly, the metaphor is taken away to reveal the message, “With living creatures one must begin very early to dwarf their growth: the bound feet, the crippled brain, the hair in curlers, the hands you love to touch (lines 17-24).” Marge Piercy uses the bonsai tree to represent a young girl and the gardener to represent society. The young girl in the story has great potential, but is deceived into believing that she is “to be small and cozy, domestic and weak (lines 13-14).” Society confines her, wasting her full potential so that she can fit into a mold. Society makes young girls believe that they must “dwarf their growth (line 19)” by doing whatever necessary to be
The bonsai tree in its purest form “could have grown eighty feet tall on the side of a mountain till split by lightning (line 3-5).” Instead of growing to become magnificent, the gardener contains the tree in a small pot, preventing it to grow to its full potential. Everyday as the gardener prunes the tree back he croons, “‘It is your nature to be small and cozy, domestic and weak (lines 12-14).” Suddenly, the metaphor is taken away to reveal the message, “With living creatures one must begin very early to dwarf their growth: the bound feet, the crippled brain, the hair in curlers, the hands you love to touch (lines 17-24).” Marge Piercy uses the bonsai tree to represent a young girl and the gardener to represent society. The young girl in the story has great potential, but is deceived into believing that she is “to be small and cozy, domestic and weak (lines 13-14).” Society confines her, wasting her full potential so that she can fit into a mold. Society makes young girls believe that they must “dwarf their growth (line 19)” by doing whatever necessary to be