Blog Post 4- Topic 2

As illustrated in class, a conceit is “an extended metaphor with a complex logic that governs an entire poem”. The poem “Driving into the Wreck” by Adrienne Rich is full of extensive metaphorical elements, making it so that the reader is forced to analyze and determine the authors point of view throughout the text. The authors mention of ladders and water could be a form of metaphorically reliving the events within her life such as the political issues of the mid 1900 era like the Vietnam war, civil rights movement, and feminism. This could also reflect her relationship with her husband which ended with his tragic suicide. These experiences shaped the outcome of her future and I believe that through this poem she is explaining how she felt regarding surviving the wreckage that had occurred around her.

There is a moment in the text where Rich speaks about climbing down a ladder before reaching the water. She says that, she along with others know what the latter is used for. For Rich, there is a possibility that the latter could be used as a connection to her past and present life. Above the water, could be a metaphor for the past existence of her life that was once full of social norms from her childhood up until her marriage with her husband. While below the water, could be related to her fully submerging herself into her present life of becoming politically immersed in feminism and her sexuality as a lesbian. As Rich steps, closer to the water down the latter, she explains that her flippers cripple her (line 29). I believe that, this is a metaphor for a possible element within her journey from her past to present life, like social norms, which was holding her back. She says that “…there is no one/ to tell me when the ocean/ will begin. (line 31)” This suggests that she had to find the courage in make the journey for her desired life on her own. She could be facing a sense of fear from the unknowns that the ocean provides. Once she reaches the water, she says that she blacks out. She could be feeling overwhelmed with her new life making her feel a sense of darkness from the pressures that surround her. Yet, she is instantly filled with power from her mask and that it “…pumps my blood with power/ (line 38)” which could mean that she finds herself feeling empowered by her accomplishment of taking the dive into becoming who she was destined to be. She reiterates that she has no guidance in the water, yet this time she seems to be content with learning how to figure out the way the water (or world) works for her. She later finds this to become easy.

In conclusion, the poem has a sense of Rich trying to explain the way that she found herself through her life’s experiences. From living a high-pressured life of trying to appease social norms by being a normalized mother and wife, she realized that her life had a different purpose than the one she was living in the past. She embodies a sense of feminism through her writing and this could be a political statement for her beliefs in the feminist movement.

Word Count: 547