Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Rita Dove Comment
I liked the characteristics and nature of Rita Dove's Canary in Bloom. It is about her grandmother, Beulah, and is in a narrative form. I thought it was a touching, beautiful, and provoking work. I also approved of her choice to end the work, which also is my favorite poem from the volume, " The Oriental Ballerina". I thought the personification of the ballerina was excellent and engaging, and I appreciated the new perspective she gave on the ballerina, saying she drilled all night to come to America from China. For when I read poetry I hope to read something new, something I have not already pondered or came about. And I feel Rita accomplishes this. Also, at the very end of the poem, she ends her tale of the ballerina and says there is no china, just a head on a pillow in a room smelling of camphor. I like this ending because the end of the ballerina coincides with the end of the tale, and youre done and its just you in a room smelling of God knows what.
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Rita Dove's "Thomas and Beulah" tells the story of two people who got married and had a large family together. Thomas and Beulah care for each other, although they come from different backgrounds, and they are individuals, so they are each enduring their own problems, and have their own outlooks on life to be displayed. I get this idea because the story is told in two parts, the first from Thomas' point of view, and the second from Beulah's point of view. From each part you get a feel for what these people are battling in there own mind and world, and how they feel about each other and their family. The aspect of the story most interesting in my mind is the dilemma at play in Thomas' mind, in which he is split two sides of life, the life that he loves, playing music, drinking and enjoying himself with the women who flock to him, and the life that he ends of having, being a family man and settling down having many children. When he settles down with his family, he stopped playing his mandolin for so long that he lost the blisters on his fingers he once had that helped him play so well. This contributes to him living a very unhappy life for much of this tme, as well as the guilt that he carry's from his friend Lem's death, which he feels responsible for.
ReplyDeleteWell, I agree with what Slade says in the sense that you two different points of view, both Thomas's and Beulah's. I also like the sense that they don't only have their problems as a unified front being married but their own as individuals, that the fact they are their own person isn't excluded. I kinda find Slade said regarding Thomas having two lives interesting cause it sounded like the one in his head is all joys while the other is static and on some level unsatisfying. I wonder if Thomas would have preferred not settling down despite the fact that he clearly loves Beulah.
ReplyDeleteThe first time reading this book, I had trouble understanding it, but after reading through it a second time and discussing it in class it all made sense. I feel like Rita Dove stepped it up a notch by, capturing each event of Thomas and Beulah, through poetry. While reading this, I realized that I had to get out of my comfort zone of reading and I actually had to dig deeper and watch all the subtle references that was put into each poem. For example, everytime “bug” was mentioned, I had to remember that she was referring to his mandolin. Overall, this wasn’t a bad read.
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