Blog Post 2

In the short stories, “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner and “Shooting an Elephant” by George Orwell, the power dynamics of the elite or superior group can be seen. The Southern Whites and the English Officers demonstrated their power in different ways so the outcomes of their power reflects this.

“A Rose for Emily” took place in Post-Civil War South, a time where the South was going through great changes, but even with these changes, the power over black people was still a present issue. In the story, there was only one black character, Tobe, the combined gardener and cook for Emily. Slavery had been abolished in 1865, but by the end of the story’s timeline in 1894, the residues of slavery were still present. Tobe had very small roles in the story, and the little we know of him comes from commentary from the town. He was silent not only in the story, but in his every day life. One line says, “He talked to no one, probably, not even to her, for his voice had grown harsh and rusty, as if from disuse.” He was basically a prop in the story, and a slave without the title. Slaves were to do all that their masters command them, and usually only spoke when they were told to speak. Given the way Tobe acts in the story, it shows how even after the abolition of slavery, black people were still treated as slaves.

“Shooting an Elephant” was set in Lower Burma during the 1930s. This was a time when the English were still colonizing the area, and had complete power over the Burmese. For the past couple of years, the Burmese had lead rebellion fights against the British, and their dislike of the them only grew. This can be seen in the power dynamic between Orwell and the Burmese in the story. Orwell struggles to maintain his authority over the people, and wants to not look like a fool. Thus, he tries to make himself look superior by using his gun as a way to show his power. However, he only does this because the Burmese were prompting him to do it. He did not want to do it, but he chose to give in and shoot the elephant. Despite the British colonizing the Burmese, the Burmese are the ones controlling Orwell, a British officer. This power dynamic shows how the Burmese were starting to win in their fight against the British, and their control over their land is increasing. Orwell had these fears and he described them in, “The sole thought in my mind was that if anything went wrong those two thousand Burmans would see me pursued, caught, trampled on and reduced to a grinning corpse like that Indian up the hill.” He did not want to lose that power so he did what he could to avoid it, even if it meant doing something crazy.

Blog 2: Topic #1

The lust for power drives many forces to become demeaning and vulgar. In Faulkner’s
A Rose for Emily” and Orwell’s” Shooting and Elephant” we are able to witness the influence of power and hierarchy in the historical significant situations the characters are placed in.

            Both authors undermine colored individuals to establish white power. At the time of the stories’ plots in the early 1900’s segregation and imperialism were at climactic points in their respective areas. Orwell points out the indefinite and unimportant identity of Emily’s servant, an African American man. He has no direct role in the plot as he is his “without information.” His sole identity as a “doddering negro” was to go to the market for Emily, a white, articulates the dearth of respect he has as a human being, common for a segregated, post-civil war southern society. Faulkner, likewise, undermines the Burma coolie that gets killed by the elephant as insignificant as he leaves his body as if it was an object that was mangled. The white officer shows no respect for the dead man and compares him to a “skinless rabbit”. This imperialistic attitude in Faulkner paints way for the officer to depreciate the “dark Dravidian” of Burma and establish white hierarchy.

Orwell displays an unveiled need of supremacy from an English imperialist over the Burma Indians, while Faulkner focuses on the indirect authority of the townspeople as white southerners over the colored servant. Orwell is in a fixed situation where he kills an elephant in the name of up keeping the hierarchy of his position as a white officer. He is fearful the crowd will “laugh” at him undermining his authority. If he failed to take any action it would emphasize the “white man’s futility in the east.” Therefore in order to “avoid looking like a fool” the narrator feels obligated to the “yellow faces” and to do as the pleased. The narrators actions are driven as a result of maintaining this hierarchical position as an imperialist over the darker colored natives. He would not have committed such a drastic “murder” if it had not been a necessary part of the “mask [he]… grows to fit.” In contrast, Orwell shows the power dynamic being more concealed. This post-civil war era represents a concealing discrimination against the African Americans. After being freed they are not given direct belittling treatment yet the servant still is under the white as he works for Emily and is responsible to run her errands by going to the “marke.” There is no talk of outright disrespect of the “negro” but again he is seen without title and any sense of authority or priority as after Emily’s death he “disappears.” Orwell showcases this hidden post-civil war segregation of power  through the representation of the black man but Faulkner verbalizes this authority of the colonial white man.

Orwell and Faulkner point out the atmosphere undermining colored individuals in the event of segregation and imperialism that is occurring in the south and in Burma respectively. Yet Faulkner focuses more on a racial imperialistic attitude throughout to establish white power whereas Orwell primarily focuses on concealing this division between the two colors of individuals.

WC:530

Blog Post #2 Topic #2 Amy Joo

In a short poem called “In a Station of the Metro,” Ezra Pound conforms to the Imagist manifesto by using the direct and unornamented language and by organizing the lines in a free verse.

With the use of the direct and unornamented language, Pound displays the setting of the poem and the objects he sees there. Thus, we can see that the poem will be about the narrator’s perspectives on a station of the Metro just through the title itself, and looking at the first line, we can directly picture a crowd of people using the transportation. The first word, “the apparition” (Pound) means the act of appearing. Solely the faces in the crowd, instead of the whole bodies, are in the process of being seen. Because the narrator is illustrating a big crowd of moving faces and stations of the Metro are the places where we get onto the Metro, we conclude that the narrator is in a moving object as well, most likely in a Metro. Thus, inside the Metro that is currently passing a station, the narrator sees a crowd of people busily walking towards or out of trains through the window. This is because generally the only part of the people we can easily notice out of windows is the face. Also, in the next sentence, he describes the petals on the bough. Just like the illustration of the faces from the perspective of the narrator looking at the station from a train window, only thing he can see is a quarter of a tree. The petals which are located at the similar height of a person are the “faces” of the trees, thereby proving that the narrator can see only a certain part of everything in the station and clarifying that the writing is based on his reflection upon what he sees through the Metro window. Thus, Pound’s concise language, carefully displaying the Imagist manifesto, allowed us to easily imagine the setting and the objects the main character witnesses.

Pound writes in free verse, instead of following certain rhymes and rhythms, in order to unornamentedly display the condition of the station of the Metro. With the shift in the line, Pound moves onto another object he sees from the window on the train. Pound depicts this in free verse in order to merely differentiate the objects that he notices in the station. In spite of focusing on ornamented language such as rhyming the poem with fixed forms and of implementing rhythms, he cuts the lines into two in order to feature a contrast between the two different types of “faces” the narrator sees from the outside of the train. He sees the passing faces of the people at the station and those of the trees. Therefore, the shift was deliberately used to represent a division in the objects rather than to show rhyme or rhythm in the poem, and his unique reason showed his conforming belief to the Imagist manifesto.

When we analyze the poem as a whole, we can imagine the busily moving big crowd of people and the wet petals.  The two combined objects also show that the poem is based on a morning on weekdays. A big number of people are constantly appearing, and the petals on the branches are still wet. Therefore, the people are most likely employees who work from 9 AM to 5 PM, and the water on the petals are dews formed in the early morning. By directly listing out what he sees in a station of the Metro, Pound clearly conforms to the Imagist manifesto. As the audience, we can depict the objects he sees in the station and imagine the place where he is seeing these objects from clearly due to his concise language and the use of free verse.

Word Count: 672

Blog Post #2- Prompt 2

In Ezra Pound’s poem, In a Station of the Metro, the speaker describes a scene of seeing faces at a subway station. Pound was an influential American poet during the 20th century, who was an admirer of ancient Chinese and Japanese poetry. Pound seems to have been inspired by the Japanese form of poetry known as haiku, which aims to convey an evocative message in 17 syllables. Pound’s poem creates strong imagery in only two lines. Along with being inspired by Japanese poetry, Pound was a follower of the Imagist movement. Imagism was a movement during the early 20th century in America and England, which aimed to use create imagery through clear and precise language. In Pound’s In a Station of the Metro, he conforms to the Imagist manifesto through his use of form, meter, diction, and imagery.

Pound follows the Imagist manifesto through the use of meter and form in his poem. The Imagist manifesto states that a poet might be able to better express themselves through free verse as opposed to following a conventional form. Pound writes his poem in free verse. Free verse has no consistent meter or rhyme patterns, but it is still expressive. The Imagist manifesto states that “a new cadence means a new idea.” Pound was inspired by Japanese haikus, but he did not follow the haiku pattern exactly, choosing to split his poem into two lines instead of the traditional three lines. The two lines in the poem are short but each word is included on purpose in order to set the scene. Pound expresses his individuality as a poet through his free verse.

Pound’s diction throughout the poem also follows the Imagist manifesto. The Imagist manifesto encourages poets to use common language, and use “exact” words and not “decorative” words. Pound’s poem is easy to read in the way that it is very clear and none of the words are complex or difficult to understand. The word choice in this poem portrays a clear scene. The first line of the poem describes the speaker seeing faces in a crowd. The second line goes into a metaphor as it compares faces to “petals.” The use of the word “petals” serves a connection between man and the natural word. Pound writes that faces are petals. Pound bridges the gap between man and nature as faces in a subway become flowers on a tree. Through the use of the word “petals,” Pound is also able to convey that this poem takes place in the springtime without having to say that it is spring. Petals and blooming flowers make the reader think of spring and new beginnings, even though Pound was able to leave out what time of year it is.

Pound also uses imagery to conform to the Imagist manifesto. The Imagist manifesto states that poets should “present an image.” Pound does this through the title of his poem. He sets the scene or his poem by stating in the title that the poem takes place in a subway station. The speaker sees “faces in a crowd,” which conveys an image of a busy, bustling station. This image is contrasted in the following line, when the faces become flowers on a “wet, black bough.” Pound describes a scene that would be mundane and even unappealing in most settings, but is able to see the beauty in it as man and nature are able to coexist and become one.

Blog Post #2 - Na

       In a historical context, the power dynamics of Southern Whites and Englishmen are understandable.  Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily" and Orwell's " Shooting an Elephant" approach the topic underlying racial discrimination and how peoples perspective are influenced through those racial views. "A Rose of Emily" depicts a southern town's obsession and observations about an old lady called Emily. In "Shooting an Elephant", an English police officer is stationed in Burma and has to make a decision about shooting an elephant. These stories reveal how southern whites and Englishmen influenced their societies.

       In Falkner's "A Rose for Emily", the influence of the southern whites are clearly seen and observed through the perspective of the townsfolk and through the actions of Emily. "A Rose for Emily" is approximately placed in the post-civil war era. Emily is depicted as "a tradition....[and a] hereditary obligation upon town". This reveals how southern whites traditionally based power and influence through their family and hereditary line. The idea reflects post-civil war era in which southern families still had influence and control even though modernization was in approach. We can see also that the town fails to recognize the housekeeper as an individual and resorts to calling him the  "Negro man". Even though slavery was banned, post civil war people still have yet to have changed their perspective on people of color. Instead in this story they avoid him and don't utilize him as a resource even though all the townsfolk's questions about Emily could of been answered if they approached the housekeeper without racist discrimination.

       On the other hand in Orwell's " Shooting an Elephant" we are able to gain a different perspective of Englishmen through the eyes of Orwell and the Burmese. The story is set during imperialism in which England exerted control over many countries. Orwell, the presumed narrator is depicted as "all for the Burmese and all against their oppressors, the British". The story reveals that the narrators opinion about how British exerted control and oppressed the native people from living their normal lives. During this time period the British took over countries for the pursuit of money, religion and enlighten. Enlighten was seen as a way to civilize the uncivilized. In this case the uncivilized people are the Burmese. Orwell has good intentions about his actions he still viewed the Burmese as " evil-spirited little beast". A racial discriminatory term that could easily translate to the idea that native people were beast and needed to be tamed or "civilized".  "Shooting an Elephant" revealed how the British took total control over people because they thought it was best. Orwell said he was coming to Burma because of his hatred of imperialism. Which is ironic because like so he is covertly racist and doesn't realize his some of his actions aren't reflecting what he expects to do. Which mirrors the British. The text shows how the British thought they were doing other people a favor by taking over and controlling every aspect of the country. The British thought that not only were they better because of their country, they also thought they were better because they were white.

        Both text show how the power dynamics effected social situations. In "A Rose for Emily" we see how the towns dynamics are still influenced by pre-civil war ideals'. The story shows how race defines an individual's role in a small town and how a person's class and parentage are the major influences on social respect and power. In contrast " Shooting an Elephant"  English men were  discriminatory but also supportive at the same time. The English had total control of the social environment that was enforced through sheer force, while the southern whites had a false sense of power and security that was driven by class.

Blog Post #2: Topic #1

            Although “A Rose for Emily” and “Shooting an Elephant” were written about two different places and cultures, they both criticize the racism and injustices within their societies. William Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily” is set in the Post-Civil War Mississippi and depicts the lingering racism of the South. George Orwell’s “Shooting an Elephant” is a reflection on Orwell’s time as a police officer in Burma and illustrates the prejudice of colonialism. In this essay, I will explain the power dynamic of colonialism in “Shooting an Elephant.” Then, I will describe the post-Civil War racism of Southern whites in “A Rose for Emily.” Lastly, I will compare the influences of racism in the two stories.

             In George Orwell’s “Shooting an Elephant,” he injustice and absurdity of Imperialism. This short story is based on Orwell’s experience as a police officer in colonial Burma. He describes the struggle of the English to control and satisfy the Burmese. Although he worked for the British power, he explains, “I was all for the Burmese and all against their oppressors, the British.” (Orwell). He is against colonialism and the British control over Burma, but he also is one of the oppressors, working as a police officer in Burma. Even though the British government is in control of Burma, the Burmese people refuse to give them power. The Burmese think the British are foolish in their attempts to control and govern them. “Shooting an Elephant” is a story about an English policeman and his attempt to impress the Burmese people. Orwell analyzes the story, saying, “The white man turns tyrant it is his own freedom that he destroys.” Imperialism has a negative outcome for both the Burmese and the oppressors, the British.

In “A Rose for Emily,” Faulkner portrays the mindset of a Southern society after the Civil War. William Faulkner was born in New Albany, Mississippi during the late 1890s. He grew up in a Southern community as it recovered from the loss of the Civil War. It illustrates the slow and painful decay of the southern lifestyle. The South could not accept the evils of slavery and their lifestyle’s dependence on it. They refused to move on from their old ideals or ways of life. In “A Rose for Emily,” Faulkner is writing about his life and thoughts on the South after the war.

Emily Grierson represents the old or pre-Civil War Southern way of life. Emily “passed from generation to generation” and as life was evolving around her, she remained firm in her beliefs.  Even though the people in the town want to progress, they still cherish their old lifestyle, “Miss Emily had been a tradition, a duty, and a care.” (Faulkner). The town makes excuses for and gives special treatment for Emily. Because they want to preserve their way of life, they give power to white, aristocratic families. They delay the progress of civil rights and equality by favoring these families that remain in the past. Even though they pity her, they want to protect and savor her and the lifestyle she represents.

Both “A Rose for Emily” and “Shooting an Elephant” show the racism in their societies, but they portray them in different ways. The racism in the “A Rose for Emily” is in the background reflecting the society of the time. Although slavery was abolished, racism and inequality were still present. And even though the story was not about racism, it was still a driving factor to the storyline. “Shooting an Elephant” is a story about the racism and injustice within colonial communities. Orwell details the diversity and discrimination he experienced as a colonial police officer.

Word Count: 607            

Blog Post #2 Topic #1

The concepts of race and patriarchy have been an issue throughout the beginning of time in our country. In William Faulker’s “A Rose for Emily”, Miss Emily Grierson is seen as a prominent woman due to the unfortunate events she has endured and the color of her skin. George Orwell’s “Shooting an Elephant” includes both concepts as well, although the English officer falls under the pressures of the Burmese people. Both stories portray race and patriarchy, but the authors illustrate them in similar, yet different, ways.
 The story of “A Rose for Emily” takes place in Jefferson, Mississippi, following the end of the Civil War. Even though the victory of the Union symbolized the beginning of the end of slavery, the townspeople of Jefferson, being Southern whites, still withheld the ideas of any other Southern state in this time period. The word “Negro” is used several times throughout the story, and is mentioned to describe Emily’s servant. The servant is noted to be “going in and out with a market basket” and leading many people in and out of Emily’s house on several occasions, implying the labor forced upon him. Miss Emily Grierson was of 30 years of age at this time, so she had already been instilled the idea of racial dominance and the usage of slavery. It is apparent that Emily was pitied due to the death of her father, enabling herself her be put on a “high pedestal”. Patriarchy is seen when Emily’s father rejected all men his daughter brought for approval of marriage, so she was left by her lonesome when he died. The citizens of Jefferson took on this “fatherly” role when strange smells and incidents starting coming from Miss Grierson’s home. Faulkner states, “Alive, Miss Emily had been a tradition, a duty, and a care…” They believe that she is incapable of existing without a manly figure and was “a sort of hereditary obligation upon the town…”
“Shooting an Elephant” takes place in a village in Moulmein, Burma, in the 1920’s. Following the Anglo-Burma wars, the British colonized Burma at this time for selfish reasons; they wanted access to resources the land offered. Britain tried to justify the colonization behind the fear they had that the French would take over Burma if they did not. The main character is the author, George Orwell, himself, who is a police officer and is stationed in the small Burmese village. He disagreed with the views of the fellow British people. “I was all for the Burmese and all against their oppressors, the British,” Orwell stated. He was extremely despised by the villagers and was continuously made fun of. With the simple mention of his occupation within the story, Orwell had superiority over the Burmese. It is ironic that throughout the duration of the story, it is seen that he is affected by, and succumbs to, the pressure of the villagers, specifically when the infamous elephant rushes the town. Orwell originally had no intention to kill the elephant. The murder of the “Dravidian coolie” was not enough to persuade Orwell that the elephant deserved to be killed. Here, you notice the view that Orwell has on the race of the deceased, despite his view of imperialism. It was not until the mockery from the Burmese started, that he was convinced. The officer mentions, “But even then I was not thinking particularly of my own skin, only of the watchful yellow faces behind.”
In both stories, the power dynamics of race and patriarchy are articulated. Faulkner’s fictional character, Miss Emily Grierson, displayed the stereotypical racist view of a white southern woman of that time and was shown pity by the town and law for the circumstance she was in. As for the story of Orwell, the concepts of patriarchy and race are expressed during the colonization of Burma, putting the Europeans as more dominant and superior to that of the Burmese.
Word count: 652

Blog Post #2 Topic 1.

Blog Post #2 

  

1.      Compare and contrast the influence (you might think of it as a power dynamic) of Southern whites in “A Rose for Emily” and that of Englishmen in “Shooting an Elephant,” USING THE TEXT to support a historical analysis  

  

The theme of white supremacy and racism is quite prevalent in both William Faulkner’s ‘A Rose for Emily’ and George Orwell’s ‘Shooting an Elephant’ although it is quite undervalued through the novels. ‘A rose for Emily’ is a southern gothic story that was published in nineteen-thirty that deals with the life of an old woman who has not left her house for a decade. Emily, the protagonist, comes from a respectable family located in a small fictional town called Jefferson, Mississippi. Due to the story taking place in a southern state right after the civil war, Faulkner uses diction and visual imagery to illustrate the state of racism at the time. On the other hand, ‘Shooting an Elephant’ is a narrative essay which follows a white police officer working in colonial Burma. The essay is presumably about Orwell and his experiences while he was working in Burma. The narrator explains to the readers that there is a segregation of race between the British and the Burmese and how the British are basically using Burma for resources and travel routes. Both texts offer distinctive views on the same theme of racial discrimination and prejudice despite having distinct settings.  

  

            ‘A Rose for Emily’ includes various elements of prejudice and racism that were seen as normal at the time. Faulkner makes the reader aware of the treatment of blacks and other minorities straight away by mentioning a law set forth by the mayor saying, “he who fathered the edict that no Negro woman should appear on the streets without an apron”. We see another instance of racism when the narrator describes some tax-collectors arriving at Emily’s house “They were admitted by the old Negro …The Negro led them into the parlor.”  We see the racial discrimination taking place so trivially in this southern town even post-civil-war. Black people were treated as subhuman being addressed as “the” or “it. Tobe, Emily’s slave, is stripped of his individuality and is seen as property by the whites. A similar situation was taking place in Burma in Orwell’s “Shooting an Elephant”. Orwell seemingly tells the readers that he hates oppressing the Burmese and is on their side yet he himself mentions some subtle racist comments that might tell us that he in fact not as genuine as he tries to explain. “I served and my rage against the evil-spirited little beasts” says Orwell referring to the Burmese when he tries to justify why he doesn’t help them when they were oppressed. Moreover, the younger officers even go on to say, “an elephant was worth more than any damn Coringhee coolie" when Orwell tries to justify his reason for killing the elephant.  

  

            Although both texts show very different type of racism - Faulkner emphasizing on the subhuman treatment of black people and struggle for rights even after the civil war. Meanwhile, Orwell tries to mask his lust for power by “supporting” the Burmese. Both works utilize white supremacy to increase labor and other material resources.   

Blog Post 2: Topic 1

Throughout history, there has always been a clash for dominance in society. Although there can be multiple ways to gain power, the most repetitive pattern, historically, has been determined by race and culture. Many stories have been written in response to expose the unjust hierarchy that the world has, but two stories that showcase this injustice the best is “Shooting an Elephant,” by George Orwell, and “A Rose for Emily,” by William Faulkner. Even though both instances occurred on different sides of the world, Orwell’s and Faulkner’s stories both share many qualities when it comes to the role of race and power. Although there are some tiny differences in the details of their specific influence over the population, it was made very clear in both stories that the power heavily lied with the Southern Whites and the Englishmen in Burma.

The Southern Whites and Englishmen had main control throughout their stories because of the history that occurred in their specific centuries. During “A Rose for Emily”, the time period that it was in mirrored the South after the Civil War. During this time, the south was still trying to recuperate from the war and tension was still very high between African Americans and the whites. The “Shooting an Elephant" took place during the 1920’s and was set in Burma, India. In the 1920’s, the British invaded India and took over their cities because of unlimited resources as well as to “help” the savages become educated. The tension between India and the British lasted for multiple decades and caused many rebellions and wars from 1820 until India was liberated completely in 1947. Although these historical events happened at different times in different parts of the world, they both exhibit similarities in the way power is held between the Englishmen and the Southern Whites.

Both stories are similar in the interactions between the powerful and the weak. Emily was treated as a superior from the beginning of the story due to her race and her family dominance. Because Emily’s family name was important and held some value in the town, arrogance exuded off her and led her to believe that she was better than everyone else, when in reality she was not. This was shown from the acts of having her taxes waived, people were too afraid to tell her that her house smelled horribly, and she still held her head higher and looked down on people even when she was in no situation to do so. She also showed her supremacy by “vanquishing” the city officials. The Englishmen also shared this arrogance when they entered the Indian villages and when they deal with the Indians in the town. Although the narrator feels sympathy for invading and playing a role in imperialism, he still uses degrading terms and calls them “evil-spirited little beasts” (Orwell). Because of the race and culture of the British, they were automatically labeled superior while the Indians were valued less than an elephant, “because an elephant was worth more than any damn Coringhee Coolie” (Orwell). Even though the similarities between these stories are immense, the differences show just as much importance if not more.

A main difference between the two stories is that Emily’s rule was coming to an end while the reign of the British was still going strong even after the main incident happened. The decay of the old southern lifestyle was shown specifically through this story by the way that the newer generation interacted with Emily and through subtle hints in the description of the town.  The house that Emily lived in was described as, “a big squarish frame house that had once been white…… But garages and cotton gins had encroached and obliterated even the august names of that neighborhood” (Faulkner).  This expresses how as Emily’s house decayed, so did the old society that she used to live in. The people in her neighborhood also evolved over time and grew apart from the original southern ways, “When the next generation, with its more modern ideas, became mayors and aldermen, this arrangement created some little dissatisfaction” (Faulkner). The taxes agreement became a burden overtime because the mentality of the new generation did not revolve on the power that Emily once had in the town. As Emily grew further away from the time that she knew, her power also started to slip just as quickly. Emily’s death at the end of the story represented the last drop of power from her family name leaving the world, which would never have any control or value to anyone else again.  

Word Count: 762

           

Blog Post 2: Topic #2

The Imagist movement was started as a retaliation towards the Romanticism. Its focus was on moving away from the abstract and conveying meanings of a poem through clear, precise images (Poets.org). Three of the main tenets of Imagism are “direct treatment of a ‘thing’” whether it be subjectively or objectively”, to not use any unnecessary words, and “to compose in sequence of the musical phrase, not in sequence to the metronome” (Poets.org). Ezra Pound is the founder of the movement and his poem, “In a Station of the Metro” exemplifies the doctrines of Imagism through the use of diction and imagery.

            “In a Station of the Metro” is only two lines, so paying close attention to Pound’s choice of words is a key factor in understanding its images. Pound likens “the apparition of… faces” to “petals”. The word “apparition” illustrates an image of blurring objects. In the poem, he is specifically referring to the faces of the other people in the station. People in the station are hard to identify because they are blurring with one another as they disappear and reappear. He compares this to petals. Each face is a petal among other petals that are hard to distinguish between. However, using “petals” also implies a certain delicacy to these faces as well as a similarity. They all were once part of the same cluster that gradually got pulled in different directions, also relating to them being passengers of the Metro. Then he compares the “crowd” to a “wet, black bough”. The image produced suggests that the crowd is possibly all darkly dressed. Their faces are the petals or the splash of color on a branch, while the rest of their attire make them blend into one body, the bough. The only movement is of their slippery faces as they shuffle throughout the station. This diction follows the second tenet of imagism where they only use necessary words, and each word in the poem is important in conveying the image Pound wanted to paint.

            Pound illustrates a clear image following the first tenet of the imagist movement, but this picture’s preciseness is also because of the title of the poem. Going back to the second tenet, he uses the title as an added detail for the image while also not repeating unnecessary words. By narrowing the scene in a station, Pound creates a more focused perspective. The speaker could either be a passenger waiting for their train or they could be a bystander observing the drifting crowd. However, the narrator seems separate from the scene, too. Whether he is a passenger or a bystander, it is like he is different from them. A passenger, too, but one that does not blend among the masses and the way he observes the crowd gives off a liminal feel where the speaker seems even separate from his own body. The image also emanates a dark dance. The “petals on a wet black bough”, especially, showcase this atmosphere because of the contrast. Petals are associated with flowers which are normally seen as beautiful, but when they are stuck to a dark, wet branch it stains the beauty of the petals. It can be interpreted to how the workings of human society have been muddled.

            The Imagist manifesto is embodied in Pound’s “In a Station of the Metro” through its diction and imagery. Both literary devices serve to treat the direct message of the cluttered human society as they pass through the liminal space of the metro station. Each word contributes to an image of moving faces in an amalgamated crowd of people trying to get from one place to the next. It also fits into the last tenet, where the lines of the poem do not follow a meter; it is free verse and its disjointed sentence rhythm creates its own musical phrase in order to match the ambience of the poem.

Word Count: 649