StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...

Not waving but drowning - Essay Example

Cite this document
Summary
Nearly all of Europe was devastated during the First World War and spent much of this time trying to regroup, rebuild and move past the global destruction of property and…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER92.4% of users find it useful
Not waving but drowning
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Not waving but drowning"

Download file to see previous pages

In each of these states, whether European or American, people were experiencing a great deal of alienation and isolation as a result of these tremendous changes. Perhaps it is not surprising, then, to find the desolation and isolation of this period reflected as a major theme in the poetry created during this period such as “Not Waving but Drowning” by Stevie Smith. The isolation is almost overwhelming in Smith’s poem as she begins with the desolate lonely cry of a man that nobody hears.

Although he is introduced as being dead, “Nobody heard him, the dead man, / But still he lay moaning” (1-2), making himself known to someone. This introduction presents several possibilities as to his true condition. The first is that the man is only symbolically dead, dead on the inside, and so is physically alive and able to moan in his continued pain and loneliness. He could also be so close to death that there is no possibility of saving him before he’s gone, and he’s moaning in anticipation of the inevitable.

Another possibility is that he is actually dead, but there remain a few possibilities as to his continued moaning. The pain and anguish of his death might have been too much for him to bear and thus he is still moaning even after death. Finally, the suggestion that nobody heard him invokes the sense of the ghostly, so that perhaps the man is moaning in the form of a ghost, attempting to warn those who can hear of the dangers of allowing individuals to become too isolated from society. The words that Smith provides him in the second portion of this stanza further emphasize the sense of isolation and failed attempts at connection.

The dead man says, “I was much further out than you thought / And not waving but drowning” (3-4). This indicates that whether he was alive or dead, this man never felt as close to his fellow humans as they perceived him to be and, as a result, they were unable to recognize the signs of distress he was sending

...Download file to see next pages Read More
Tags
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“Not waving but drowning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words”, n.d.)
Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/miscellaneous/1543361-not-waving-but-drowning
(Not Waving But Drowning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 Words)
https://studentshare.org/miscellaneous/1543361-not-waving-but-drowning.
“Not Waving But Drowning Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 Words”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/miscellaneous/1543361-not-waving-but-drowning.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Not waving but drowning

Compare and Contrast of Richard Cory and Not Waving but Drowning

not waving but drowning deals with a man that was mistaken to be waving while all the while he was drowning.... “I was much further out than you thought/ And not waving but drowning” (Harvey 6).... The personal significance of “not waving but drowning” has over-time become a topic of literary criticism, especially as concerns the life of Stevie Smith.... This imagery has the purpose of showing that even as the man died, the audience thought that his frantic waving was a sign of happiness and contentment....
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay

Lucky MT a Joint Venture of Two Companies Medtech and Telnet

Critically analyse the situation facing Lucky MT, drawing on your learning across the entire module.... What recommendations would you make to the business regarding its future strategy?... Introduction Lucky MT, a joint venture of two companies Medtech and Telnet seems to be on the rocks within a few years of establishment....
17 Pages (4250 words) Essay

Ecosystem: Temperate Forests

The climate goes through well-defined seasonal changes, trending toward long warm summers, moderately cold winters and an evenly spread level of precipitation throughout the year, providing the trees and other plants with sufficient moisture year round for growth while not drowning them....
8 Pages (2000 words) Essay

Legalizing the use of midicinal marijuana

It has been suggested, and in some cases demonstrated, that legalizing or at least decriminalizing marijuana can help to reduce violent crimes and… It would free up funds and law-enforcement manpower to instead combat the more urgent societal issues.... Although not legal in the rlands, cannabis is openly tolerated and can be both purchased and consumed in one of several Amsterdam ‘coffee houses....
5 Pages (1250 words) Essay

The Life-Cycle Model of Consumption and Saving

The author of the following paper under the title 'The Life-Cycle Model of Consumption and Saving' focuses on the famous economist John Keynes who concluded that economies with larger income have more savings due to their increase in disposable income.... hellip; Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be the case since economic theorists later proved that as the economy grows, a fraction of the disposable income saved in an economy appears to stay constant....
1 Pages (250 words) Literature review

Beliefs In The Existence Of Ghosts And Poltergeists

Stevie Smith in her 1953 poem ' not waving but drowning' has the dead man explaining his predicament.... The literature of all civilized peoples abounds with accounts of ghosts and haunted houses.... The paper "Beliefs In The Existence Of Ghosts And Poltergeists" discusses what is a ghost, whether or not they actually exist and the role which they play in human life....
8 Pages (2000 words) Term Paper

Reading response to poem

This paper analyzes the elements of… The poet used the analogy of a swimmer right from its title, not waving but drowning, (Smith, 1972).... In this title, the reader is Running head: Reading response to poem: "not waving but drowning" by Stevie Smith In the literary world, authenticity of poetry inheres in its dense meaning.... This paper analyzes the elements of analogy, language tone, and imagery in Stevie Smith's poem not waving but drowning, and shows how these elements affect the response to the entire poem....
2 Pages (500 words) Essay

Analysis of Hospitality Industry of England

This report "Analysis of Hospitality Industry of England" highlights the importance and value of the tourism industry as a potential savior for the down-moving economic outlook of the nation.... Tourism should be promoted because the pound sterling has lost a significant level of worth.... hellip; All the local government needs to do is to sensibly promote natural sights of the country on an international level....
5 Pages (1250 words) Report
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us