Staying true to your beliefs or your lifestyle is an attribute sought by many. It requires consistency and bravery to stand by a belief, no matter how silly. By describing the steadfast, unwavering, and focused nature of the barnacle, A.E Stallings in “The Barnacle” conveys the attitude of dedication to and stubbornness for beliefs or lifestyles. The steadfast, unwavering, and focused nature of the barnacle relates to the focus required for any meaningful or purposeful action. Stallings uses personification as one of her main tools in conveying the attitude of the poem. “Though one that doesn’t give a damn” illustrates the use perfectly. When we say someone doesn’t give a damn, we mean that they don’t care about anything other than what they
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Stallings characterizes the barnacle as “Sclerotic.” Sclerotic means that it is characterized by sclerosis, a disease, when specifically referring to MS or multiple sclerosis, as Mighty Stubborn. While stubbornness can be a blessing and a curse, being too precautious can never be a bad thing. Stallings actually refers to the cursed part, saying it “Has no purpose for a brain,” which can be interpreted as meaning that being stubborn is best in moderation, like most things. But retracing our steps back to the blessing, she later touches on the fact that “Its one boast is, it will not budge,” which can be related to one’s beliefs or lifestyle choices. The barnacle doesn’t exactly have a fulfilling lifestyle by our standards. It simply is born, moves around for a bit, sinks to the bottom of the ocean, and just sits there for the rest of its life. But who are we to judge? People do this to other people, all the time. For example, I could say that majoring in music is an unfulfilling degree, but if someone likes the idea of majoring in music, why should they listen to me? I’ve never majored in music, nor tried; who am I to talk shit about it? The North American Martyrs are a few of the most impressive articulators of staying true to one’s belief in history. The North American Martyrs probably looked up to the barnacle (probably
Stallings characterizes the barnacle as “Sclerotic.” Sclerotic means that it is characterized by sclerosis, a disease, when specifically referring to MS or multiple sclerosis, as Mighty Stubborn. While stubbornness can be a blessing and a curse, being too precautious can never be a bad thing. Stallings actually refers to the cursed part, saying it “Has no purpose for a brain,” which can be interpreted as meaning that being stubborn is best in moderation, like most things. But retracing our steps back to the blessing, she later touches on the fact that “Its one boast is, it will not budge,” which can be related to one’s beliefs or lifestyle choices. The barnacle doesn’t exactly have a fulfilling lifestyle by our standards. It simply is born, moves around for a bit, sinks to the bottom of the ocean, and just sits there for the rest of its life. But who are we to judge? People do this to other people, all the time. For example, I could say that majoring in music is an unfulfilling degree, but if someone likes the idea of majoring in music, why should they listen to me? I’ve never majored in music, nor tried; who am I to talk shit about it? The North American Martyrs are a few of the most impressive articulators of staying true to one’s belief in history. The North American Martyrs probably looked up to the barnacle (probably