Explication of the poem “Daddy” by Sylvia Plath Essay

The elements of youth revolt of 60-s are very organically entered in psychoanalytic heuristic model under the name “Oedipus complex”. The idea of opposition of fathers and children appears for this revolt by that semantic axis on which all other protest themes of that time are strung themes, by the way, extremely important and serious: a social inequality, Vietnam, nuclear war and a number of others. And Payments in this context – it is certainly organic and actual – “nerve” of its poetics is all the same “an Oedipus complex” (more precisely, its updating – “Electra’s complex”). Thus at Payments, as well as in poetics of 60s, this complex initially realizes itself in space imagination in elements of imagination, in game as a matter of fact life interpretations under a sign fanaticism. When Silvia’s father of the Payments has died, Silvia was only 10 years, but the coexistence-with-father realized in the extremely negative forms, there are “main time” its existence (Doel, I. and L. Friesen 428). Under the sign of this event all subsequent vital events are interpreted. The impression is created, that the symbolical figure of the Father for Payments appears that label-fixing of traumatic events in relation to which all subsequent life is only certain “post-childhood”, the period which does not have internal existential self-sufficiency. Each new fragment of such “post-childhood” noted on formally spent line of a life, is only returning and repeated experience of that once happens, and for limits of that it is impossible to leave. The poem Daddy by Sylvia Path is one of the most remarkable works created by the poet, where she rebels against her own father, rejecting him as a dehumanizing monster, who supported fascism and who symbolizes a fascist for the author. Her hatred to fascism is so strong that she rejects her own father ending up her poem with the condemning words Daddy, daddy, you bastard, I’m through (Path).
Rhyme, form, and meter
However, her poem is not only rich in diverse stylistic devices but it is also a noteworthy piece of poetry, which is full of rebellious spirit and ideas of humanism and freedom. At the same time, it is worth mentioning the fact that the form and meter of the poem helps to convey the genuine emotions of the narrator. Daddy is comprised of the verse quintains rhyme and the meter of the poem can be presented as follows:
aab/aab –
bbc/bbc – anapestic feet
ccd/ccd –
ab/ab/ab – iambic feet
bc/bc/bc/bc – trochaic feet
Repetition
To enhance the impact on the audience, the poet uses repetition in the first line: “You do not do, you do not do” or further in the poem she also uses repletion: “of wars, wars, wars”, “and my Taroc pack and my Tarok pack”. In fact, the use of repetition draws the attention of the audience to specific issues, such as war and inaction of the narrator’s father. In such a way, the poet singles key ideas and parts of the poem she wants the audience to pay a particular attention to.
Assonance and alliteration
Furthermore, Path uses assonance. For instance, she uses assonance of foot – root in “Put your foot, your root”. Another example of assonance is clear – bear in “The snows of the Tyrol, the clear bear of Vienna”. The use of assonance makes the poem melodic and pleasant to perceive when cited aloud. In addition, the poet uses alliteration “So black no sky could squeak through”. The alliteration sets the rhythm of the poem and it is due to the alliteration the poem sound intentionally harder than it actually is. In such a way, the poet expresses her personal negative attitude to the subject of the poem.
Wordplay
Sylvia Path uses wordplay in abundance in her poem. For instance, the following lines are the perfect sample of wordplay:
The boot in the face, the brute
Brute heart of a brute like you.
In these lines, fascists are compared to brutes as if they are mere animals. On the other hand, Brute may be associated with Brutus, who is a symbol of treachery.
Another example of wordplay is “But they pulled me out of the sack”. In such a way, the author uses a metaphoric comparison of the desperate position of the narrator to the sack, in which the narrator is uncomfortable and helpless, as the narrator was in the real life, she was just stumbling through. But eventually people helped the narrator to cope with her problems and start a new, normal life. At the same time, these lines reminds about the past of the narrator and her father, which she compares to the sack with no way out of it.
Symbols
In addition, the poet uses a variety of symbols in her poem. In this regard, the symbol of death is probably one of the strongest ones. Death is the protagonist of poetry of Plath is a symbolical permission of that psychological, internal pressure that there is in the course of ultra intensive experience of the conflict between individual I and a figure of the Father; the permission symbolical, but demanding real actions. And since all real daily existence of Payments appears as a matter of fact cyclic, its same suicide attempts as appear programmed on repetition. If the second attempt of a suicide appears unsuccessful (as the first), that, apparently, behind this second attempt would follow the third… A movement in a circle aspiring for limits of this circle to leave.
Comprehending problems of the personal vital space, Payments actively uses political metaphors and labels. The same figure of the Father, for example, is identified with image of the fascist. Occurs original existalization the political; elements of a political discourse are actively integrated into sphere of personal, deeply subjective relations and experiences. As consequence, semantics of the political falls outside the limits natural, traditional borders, and starts to be enriched actively new, earlier not by senses peculiar to it. Political becomes a symbol, but a symbol inherent in personal relations, i.e. it extends on sphere which traditionally was considered free from its influence. Before us Existential political; it characterizes the events which are carried out in sphere politicians “by a residual principle”: actually the policy appears a projection and continuation of the events developed in a private life. The space of global processes appears a certain logic continuation (and reflexion) spaces of events individual. The semantic, intrinsic centre Political changes the site: from sphere collective it moves to sphere of the individual; the print of the political proves, in a result, in all events of a private life. So, for example, he characterizes both relations between the father and the daughter. As a result there is certain “an exchange of senses” in which the space of individual relations and space of the big social events are involved. “The big world” existancializes, overhuman incorporates lines of the personal. “The small world”, on the contrary, being initially individual, absorbs in itself elements overindividual. This world is formalized, arranged under standards of collective, purely rational norms. Henceforth any event occurring in this world, becomes event public: it finds public value and, in passing, becomes accessible to “the external observer” to whom duties of the control over an event and a moral estimation of an event, as a matter of fact, are assigned.
At external, most obvious level of display of this idea, the fault (and derivative of it is guilt) is that is addressed and it is offered to the senior generation. The senior generation (“daddies”) becomes responsible for all horrors and the troubles occurring in the world. Thus the idea of an individual responsibility (after all concrete “daddy” has given the order on bombardment of Hiroshima, for example) is replaced with idea of responsibility general (all “daddies” are identical) and the idea of general responsibility is transformed here to idea of fault of everyone who lived at the moment of realization of these events. Concrete names here are not so important: all figures guilty are certainly interchangeable, and replacement of Truman by Plath, Silvia’s father.
But the idea of fault has also the second, hardly less visible level of display. Itself “investment with guilt” another is only symbolically carried out aspiration to be released from fault own. The parental Super-ego has many possibilities to introduce in consciousness of the child sensation of own inferiority and when this sensation appears realized, it turns around feeling of fault of the child for own discrepancy to those norms which he, the child, should correspond.
Symbolical condemnation of the Father gives to consciousness only short-term feeling catharsis, clearings, and in more long-term prospect it turns around a sign on a new crime and, as a result, “condemning the Father” one more feels made “a bad act”. As consequence, events find the form of one more circle: the guiltier there is a Father in consciousness of Silvia Plath, the guiltier there is also she. The new feeling of fault demands new condemnation and when it will take place – the feeling of own fault becomes stronger… The life does a new coil, thus the prospect of a suicide way of the permission of such internal conflict only amplifies.
The author conveys accurately the symbol of fascism, which she depicts as follows:
I made a model of you,
A man in black with a Meinkampf look (Path)
In such a way, she expresses clearly her key idea that fascism is dehumanizing and any manifestation of fascism should be eliminated because they ruin the normal life of people, offering instead destructions and degradation (Doel, I. and L. Friesen 430).
Conclusion
Thus, the poem Daddy by Sylvia Path is a perfect example of the anti-fascist poetry, which conveys the personal attitude of the poet to fascism and her conflict with her father on the ground of fascism.