Breaking Out - Critical Analysis
Piercy's "Breaking Out" holds meaning
in terms of its technique and thematic elements. Both aspects contribute
to the poem's overall meaning of activism and the need to forge a statement of
defiance in a world where conformity is expected and enforced. Piercy's poem is
one of transformation, where individuals can envision what they can be as
opposed to what is expected of them.
From a structural point of view, there is no
definite convention to which the poem must adhere. Stanzas of four lines
and three lines alternate. There is no defined rhyme scheme. In its
openness of form, Piercy seeks to give articulation to the condition of freedom
that the subject of the poem, herself as a child, experiences at its end.
Piercy delivers a poem from a narrative point of view, reflective of her
own growth from a child to an adult. The experience of the ruler and the
discipline she experienced at its hand becomes the critical aspect of the
narrative frame.
The surface meaning of the poem is a reflection
about how Piercy as a child experienced discipline in the form of beatings with
a wooden yardstick. From this, the sensory imagery utilized in the poem
brings out the narrative frame of reference from the child's point of view. The
initial sight of the closet doors, "leaning together like gossips,"
establishes the exposition for the entirety of the poem. The description
of the vacuum bag as "stuffed with sausage" is another example of the
sensory imagery in the poem, as is the detail of how she responded when she was
beaten with the meter stick as one who "bellowed like a locomotive."
The imagery of the poem is one that combines a
sense of oppression with liberation. Both dynamics are critical to the
appreciation of the poem. The oppressive tendencies can be seen in the
images of domesticity. This is evident in the description of the
speaker's mother's life with lines such as "to see my mother removing
daily/ the sludge the air lay down like a snail's track" or "housewife
scrubbing/ on raw knees as the factory rained ash." This
inward imagery of domesticity is contrasted with the extroverted pictures of
liberation that is evident in the lines, "red and blue mountain/ ranges on
a map that offered escape" and "I could travel to freedom when I
grew." In utilizing images that represent oppression and liberation,
it becomes clear that Piercy is suggesting that her childhood was positioned
between the world of expectation and conformity, representing the silencing of
voice, and one of liberation and transformation, involving a departure from it.
The poetic devices in the poem help to enhance the poem's thematic function.
The poem's themes reside in the struggle
towards liberation. The titular concept refers to a forcible repudiation
of a contingency that silences voice. This repression is seen on two levels in
the poem. The first is the repression of women in the form of imposed
domesticity. The speaker of the poem reacts with intense rejection
towards a life where she is told what to do and how to live: "... as
if weary of housework as I,/ who swore I would never dust or sweep." Her
reaction is an indication that the predicament women face is one where they are
forced into a life of domesticity with limited opportunities for freedom and voice.
It is an existence tethered to routine, denying freedom, and steeped in
monotonous repetition. The invocation of Sisyphus from the school lesson
is reflective of how the speaker perceives domestic life. The second
level of repression exists in the parent/ child dynamic. The child speaks
of being beaten by both parents with the "wooden yardstick." Her
breaking of the rule enables the speaker to move into "power gained."
The ability to assert her voice in the face of parental repression
represents her voice authenticated and her narrative validated. She has
clearly established that she will not be Sisyphus in her act of breaking the
yardstick. It is this in which the "breaking out" element is
most demonstrative.
Piercy describes her writing as emerging from a
singular vision. It is a vision that she believes unifies her process and
products of thought: "I don’t really differentiate between writing a
love poem or a poem about a blue heron, or a poem about a demonstration or a
poem about a Jewish holiday. To me, it’s all one vision.” This vision is
one where individual voice is revealed. This is evident in "Breaking
Out." Bill Moyers argues that Piercy's gift is evident when she
"forges imaginative communities centered in day-to-day mature relationships
and on the awareness that human capacity cannot be separated from specific
individual circumstances." The transformative moment in which Piercy
breaks the ruler and breaks out into a world of "power gained"
becomes central to the poem.
Comments
Post a Comment