Blog Post 4 Topic 4

‘Diving into the Wreck’ by American poet and feminist, Adrienne Rich, was one of the most influential poet during the time, receiving the National Book award for Poetry. She wrote ‘Diving into the Wreck’ in 1971 which tells the story of the narrator, a solo diver who explores a ship wreck, describing their surroundings and actions of entering the ocean and reaching the wreck. At the time of writing this poem, America was going through a lot of change including the women’s right movement during the 1970s in which one of the key figures being Rich. Rich grew up in a remarkably educated family, her father being a renowned pathologist at The John Hopkins university and her mother who was a composer and pianist. Rich herself excelled in academics, attending and getting a diploma from Radcliffe college. Then, she married an economics professor at Harvard and have three children before moving to New York to pursue feminist activism. She would later leave her husband (who eventually committed suicide) and identify as lesbian.

Diving into the Wreck utilizes conceit (an extended metaphor that compares two unlikely things in a witty way) to express the poet’s emotions regarding her transformation of identities throughout her life and the difficulty of going against the norms of society and patriarchy. Although, the poem does not explicitly state her emotions and has a rather solemn tone, the poet uses a number of literary devices like visual imagery and symbol to convey her thoughts. We see in the first line that Rich is already using a symbol of the “book of myths” which might suggest that the speaker must know the old stories of the journey before embarking them. Rich also mentions “loaded the camera” and “checked the edge of the knife-blade” to point out the importance of recording and being aware of the danger of the journey. The book of myths might particular point to the myths of patriarchy which split the sexes into two factions that have a perpetual battle of the more dominant sex. The knife may be referring to Rich cutting through societal gender roles and discovering her true identity. Rich uses imagery as the speaker descends into the water - “bluer and then green and then black I am blacking out”- to signify the control of the unconscious and the struggle to break away from this controlling factor. The reference to Jack Cousteau can also been seen in a feminist perspective where Cousteau was a prominent figure in underwater exploring who had a diligent team working with him whereas the speaker tells us “but here alone”. This line illustrates the treatment of women who is left alone to fend and explore for herself. In the sixth stanza, Rich uses the words "And I am here, the mermaid whose […] I am she: I am he” to encourage the idea that women must create new myths and new definitions of society which will heal humanity. Women should use their loneliness to achieve success, discover themselves, and explore the female psyche. Lastly, the last line of the poem, "A book of myths in which our names do not appear," shows us the repeated use of book of myths which might suggest a different connotation that shows Rich’s feeling about women not getting recognition in the past. I believe that Rich advises the readers of the concept of Rebirth where one must recognize their journeys in order to change them ultimately referencing the wreck to treatment of women in a patriarchal society.

In conclusion, Adrienne Rich’s ‘Diving into the wreck’ is a poem relating to feminism and the rebirth of women. She used this poem to express her thoughts and emotions regarding conditions of women during the midst of the women’s right movement, the civils right movement, and the Vietnam war. This poem helped bring attention to the situation and progressed the rights of women.