Death Of The Hat Analysis

Loss of Life Human dignity, all had it, most want it, and some never achieve it. Just like the parents car teens never valued, human dignity was the emotion taken for granted, and all too soon, humans found that mentality brutally revoked. In the short poem Death of the Hat by Billy Collins, the hat stands for considerably more then an object placed upon the head. Collins exemplifies the hat in unique ways, observing the “use” of the hat in both the past and the present. Flashing back in time to when all humans still owned hats, not as an object, but rather as a vehicle for the mentality of this time, it’s easily observed that the “hat” is a normal commodity. Just as a person is defined for the lack of an arm, the lack of dignity was easily spotted through a crowd, as Collins points out “You noticed a man without a hat in a crowd” (12). This does not refer to the …show more content…
Nowadays people still have pride… in themselves; people still hold mentality… that their iPhone bill will remain constant. As seen in the text “But today we go bareheaded in the winter streets” (32-33), showing how people have lost their “patriotism,” which is shown through the physical and metaphorical use of “winter”. While people have changed from past to present, which underlines Collins theme of change, not everything has followed humans downward spiral. While the theme of change is evident, not all things follow this trend, according to Collins “Mice scurry from the stone walls at night in their thin fur hats” (38-39). While the humans have changed, mice hold on to their simple lifestyle of eating and running about. This relates to Collins theme of change by giving an insight into the past values, but demeaning them by showing it is but a mouse to the now changed actions of present humans. Evident in the final ending of the “hat,” Collins shows the ending through the death of a