Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Rita Dove - Mandolin
Rita Dove attempts to tell the story of her grandfather Thomas in the section "Mandolin." The story begins with Thomas's friend Lem drowning in the river, and ends with Thomas having his own river to cross which ends in his death. The stuff between these two poems arent very happy or cheerful but lend a pessimistic tone. I am curious why Rita Dove went this route, why focus on the negative? Was his life truly like this? Or does she have some misguided view. Typicically, if you are fond of someone you try to put a positive spin on things. Maybe Rita decided that the truth, at least as she saw it was the best story. I do like how she uses the third person which I think produced a good perspective. I enjoyed observing history through Thomas's vantage, and seeing the ups and downs of the man. To me it is not the poetry that stands out, but the story. It is a collection of poems, but primarily a tale which you can do whatever you please with, to learn or just enjoy. I hope Rita Dove embarked on this task for some lofty goal, and not just because she thought it was a good possible narrative. Regardless, I thoroughly enjoyed her work.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I completely agree, it was great to be able to catch a glimpse of history through out the story. Reading the poem and looking at it in Thomas’s perspective was different and very fascinating. Seeing everything he goes through and how he gradually grows through the traumatic events in his life is very uplifting. The ending was a little unexpected for me, reading the story I felt it would continue as a very negative outlook because it began with death and guilt. I was nice to see that Thomas was able to overcome the tragedy and loss of his dear friend. It created a delighted tone, which was relieving for me with everything that was going on throughout the poem.
ReplyDeleteBeing able to sort of view history through Thomas's perspective was enjoyable for me also. I got extremely frustrated when it came to him being conflicted with deciding between being there one hundred percent for his children and wife, and trying to please what he thought Lem would have wanted. I felt like he needed to just get over it and towards the ending i was glad to see him, not get past it but come to odds with the fact that he does have a good life and there really isn't anything he can do to please Lem.
ReplyDeleteI think it was great to see how the story was told from two different perspectives in these poems. I personally didnt understand all of the details until they were broken down and explained in class. After understanding them some more i wondered why they stayed in these situations if they were so unhappy and why couldnt they realize how great life is until it was to late? overall i did enjoy reading these poems and going over them in class.
ReplyDeleteI really think that story being told of Thomas and Beulah's life was very interesting and enjoyable to read. It had a lot of history the reader could learn about from reading Thomas and Beulah. I really enjoyed reading this story of poems, because it was cool to get both sides of their story on their lives together. I personally think that Thomas and Beulah was my favorite thing we read in this class and I would love to read it again to see what new things I get from it. It was really interesting and fun to dig out the meanings of objects from reading Thomas and Beulah; overall it was a great piece of writing.
ReplyDeleteThe part I liked most was Thomas. Thomas was like a typical grandfather that is loving, caring and has a kind heart. I started thinking about my grandfather while reading about Thomas throughout the story. I dare not say that I was very heart broken when Thomas past away but I was able to make a connection with the story feeling the sadness it created. Still he may not have realized how great and sacred your life is. You only have one chance to give something your all in your lifetime. The only time it is too late is when death comes knocking on your door step. This made me more thankful to still be breathing and to look on the bright side of things.
ReplyDelete