Emily Dickinson was a woman that usually stayed home; she kept to herself and reflected on everything about death and human mortality (Quinn). She wrote hundreds of poems and simply numbered them; so, the names given to her poems are generally the first line of the poem (LaBlanc 61). In many of these poems, there are reoccurring themes and strong symbolism and evidence of sexist societal roles that help explain death and the emotions and thoughts that come with it. In her poems, “I Heard a Fly Buzz- When I Died-,” “Because I Could Not Stop For Death,” and “The Bustle in a House,” Emily Dickinson uses theme, symbolism, and societal roles to explore death, and the sadness that comes with death, to prompt reflection of mortality. Emily Dickinson
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In "I Heard a Fly Buzz – When I Died -", Emily writes about the narrator seeing a fly (Wilhelm 445). This "fly" could just be a metaphor for being near to death. This metaphor compares the narrator seeing a fly to the sense of sight failing, because in this poem, the fly is most likely a blind spot in the narrator’s vision (Hutto). Emily also writes about hearing a buzz and the windows failing. These could also be metaphoric symbols of waning strength in the narrator’s senses (Hutto). The silence in the room is a symbol for eminent death that all of the people in the room are aware of and are waiting on (Ruby 141). She writes about the eyes around the narrator, meaning the people who are mourning the one they are losing and also quite literally meaning the eyes of those people (Ruby 141). The color blue in the poem “I Heard a Fly Buzz – When I Died –“ can symbolize what Dickinson thought of eternity, which can be ironic to the fact that the fly can also be a symbol for mortality and these two conflict each other in this poem (Ruby 141). Using these different symbols in the poem "I Heard a Fly Buzz – When I Died -", Emily Dickinson describes the experiences and the feelings of death. In "Because I Could Not Stop for Death", the kids playing on the playground with the ring represent the early stages of life. The fields of grain represent the teenaged to adult aged …show more content…
The themes show how life begins and ends in the same place figuratively and sometimes quite literally. Emily uses symbols in her works to help the reader understand changes in life caused by death and mortality. These symbols also help the reader understand the experience of death and what may happen as someone is dying. In her poems, Emily Dickinson also uses the roles given by society to explain how death can create sadness and change everything about someone 's life, thoughts, and feelings towards a single subject or towards all aspects of life. In her poems, “I Heard a Fly Buzz- When I Died-,” “Because I Could Not Stop For Death,” and “The Bustle in A House,” Emily Dickinson uses theme, symbolism, and societal roles to view death in new ways and to make the reader think about mortality. Emily Dickinson shows everyone what it means to die and helps the reader experience death even before the time comes for life to end. Death came natural to Emily Dickinson in many more ways than
In "I Heard a Fly Buzz – When I Died -", Emily writes about the narrator seeing a fly (Wilhelm 445). This "fly" could just be a metaphor for being near to death. This metaphor compares the narrator seeing a fly to the sense of sight failing, because in this poem, the fly is most likely a blind spot in the narrator’s vision (Hutto). Emily also writes about hearing a buzz and the windows failing. These could also be metaphoric symbols of waning strength in the narrator’s senses (Hutto). The silence in the room is a symbol for eminent death that all of the people in the room are aware of and are waiting on (Ruby 141). She writes about the eyes around the narrator, meaning the people who are mourning the one they are losing and also quite literally meaning the eyes of those people (Ruby 141). The color blue in the poem “I Heard a Fly Buzz – When I Died –“ can symbolize what Dickinson thought of eternity, which can be ironic to the fact that the fly can also be a symbol for mortality and these two conflict each other in this poem (Ruby 141). Using these different symbols in the poem "I Heard a Fly Buzz – When I Died -", Emily Dickinson describes the experiences and the feelings of death. In "Because I Could Not Stop for Death", the kids playing on the playground with the ring represent the early stages of life. The fields of grain represent the teenaged to adult aged …show more content…
The themes show how life begins and ends in the same place figuratively and sometimes quite literally. Emily uses symbols in her works to help the reader understand changes in life caused by death and mortality. These symbols also help the reader understand the experience of death and what may happen as someone is dying. In her poems, Emily Dickinson also uses the roles given by society to explain how death can create sadness and change everything about someone 's life, thoughts, and feelings towards a single subject or towards all aspects of life. In her poems, “I Heard a Fly Buzz- When I Died-,” “Because I Could Not Stop For Death,” and “The Bustle in A House,” Emily Dickinson uses theme, symbolism, and societal roles to view death in new ways and to make the reader think about mortality. Emily Dickinson shows everyone what it means to die and helps the reader experience death even before the time comes for life to end. Death came natural to Emily Dickinson in many more ways than