Poetry Assessment: The Possessive
The Possessive is a heartfelt poem written in 1980. It is written from a mother 's point of view referring to her teen daughter . As parents age with time so do children, and as life goes by children continue to go through many phases in order to find themselves and develop their own identity. That is where the "battle" between life experiences and their parents begin. Growing up is a long process , even when you get to adulthood constant changes continue to happen . The essence of the poem ,The Possessive by Sharon Olds is conveying the message that as life evolves we evolve. Whether or not we are ready for it, or how tough the process of acceptance for a parent may be when realizing their children coming …show more content…
Possessive means to belong to someone or demand someone 's total attention. In this case , the mother is hoping for her daughter 's love and attention because she knows that her little girl is growing up and things will eventually change . The first line of the poem says, " My daughter—as if I owned her." is a powerful metaphor because in reality no one is owned by another . It demonstrates jealousy from the mother knowing that she is losing her little girl. The poem gives me an understanding that even though a mother can give us the privilege of life in this world, they cannot control their children 's life for eternity. They cannot control the time or prevent their children the phases of adolescence. As they are referred to "the rebel days."
The mother is realizing that her daughter 's life and ideas are no longer in her hands. The change is symbolized by her daughter 's haircut. I can picture the poem as her mother describes the hair cut. She is describing it with such exaggeration, worry, and aggression " My daughter has been to the barber, that knife grinder, and had the edge of her hair sharpened". The saying, "All the little spliced ropes are sliced" is implying that what was once connected , referring to the mother and daughters relationship is slowly coming …show more content…
My daughter. I’ll have to find another word". There is tension being drawn in . The mother can sense it and sees the war between her and her daughter approaching, that’s why she mentions images of a war "In her bright helmet she looks at me as if across a great distance. Distant fires can be glimpsed in resin light of her eyes" The helmet, the knife, and fires are an imagery that gives away that Olds is connecting her emotions with war. The mother is dreading the change and distance to come between her and her daughter. The mother compares it with war, " the watch fires of an enemy. A while before the war starts." They will soon become enemies like two countries roaring, and her teenage daughter will fight with her for independence and what she believes in. Not caring whether or not her mother
The Possessive is a heartfelt poem written in 1980. It is written from a mother 's point of view referring to her teen daughter . As parents age with time so do children, and as life goes by children continue to go through many phases in order to find themselves and develop their own identity. That is where the "battle" between life experiences and their parents begin. Growing up is a long process , even when you get to adulthood constant changes continue to happen . The essence of the poem ,The Possessive by Sharon Olds is conveying the message that as life evolves we evolve. Whether or not we are ready for it, or how tough the process of acceptance for a parent may be when realizing their children coming …show more content…
Possessive means to belong to someone or demand someone 's total attention. In this case , the mother is hoping for her daughter 's love and attention because she knows that her little girl is growing up and things will eventually change . The first line of the poem says, " My daughter—as if I owned her." is a powerful metaphor because in reality no one is owned by another . It demonstrates jealousy from the mother knowing that she is losing her little girl. The poem gives me an understanding that even though a mother can give us the privilege of life in this world, they cannot control their children 's life for eternity. They cannot control the time or prevent their children the phases of adolescence. As they are referred to "the rebel days."
The mother is realizing that her daughter 's life and ideas are no longer in her hands. The change is symbolized by her daughter 's haircut. I can picture the poem as her mother describes the hair cut. She is describing it with such exaggeration, worry, and aggression " My daughter has been to the barber, that knife grinder, and had the edge of her hair sharpened". The saying, "All the little spliced ropes are sliced" is implying that what was once connected , referring to the mother and daughters relationship is slowly coming …show more content…
My daughter. I’ll have to find another word". There is tension being drawn in . The mother can sense it and sees the war between her and her daughter approaching, that’s why she mentions images of a war "In her bright helmet she looks at me as if across a great distance. Distant fires can be glimpsed in resin light of her eyes" The helmet, the knife, and fires are an imagery that gives away that Olds is connecting her emotions with war. The mother is dreading the change and distance to come between her and her daughter. The mother compares it with war, " the watch fires of an enemy. A while before the war starts." They will soon become enemies like two countries roaring, and her teenage daughter will fight with her for independence and what she believes in. Not caring whether or not her mother