"Cut" By Sylvia Plath
The poem “cut” by Sylvia
Plath is about a lady who cut her the top of her thumb off while she was chopping
onions. Through the poem Plath describes the thumb in detail and gives lots of
examples of what it looks like, using similes and metaphors. Throughout the
poem the mood changes.
Plath uses one simile in the poem which is “a flap like a hat, dead white” which is describing the flap on her thumb like a hat on her thumb. She uses the simile to create a vivid image of what her thumb looks like in the reader’s mind. She also uses a lot of metaphors through the poem such as “the stain on your Gauze Ku Klux Klan Babushka Darkens and tarnishes” this is also used to create a vivid image in the reader’s mind. In this metaphor she is comparing her gauze that is darkening with the satin of blood to a K.K.K. outfit and a babushka.
The mood changes during the text. It goes from a great rush of excitement in the realisation that she has cut her thumb and that it is different to her boring regime to self hatred because she has cut herself. The excitement is shown by things like “Clutching my bottle of pink fizz. A celebration this is.” Which slowly changes to self hatred through the poem with quotes like this “How you jump ---- trepanned veteran, dirty girl, thumb stump” showing that she is becoming angry at herself and blaming herself.
I thought that this was a goof poem because Plath’s strangeness interested me. I found the poem effective and interesting because of Plath’s use of lots of descriptive metaphors that create a very vivid image in the reader’s mind.
Plath uses one simile in the poem which is “a flap like a hat, dead white” which is describing the flap on her thumb like a hat on her thumb. She uses the simile to create a vivid image of what her thumb looks like in the reader’s mind. She also uses a lot of metaphors through the poem such as “the stain on your Gauze Ku Klux Klan Babushka Darkens and tarnishes” this is also used to create a vivid image in the reader’s mind. In this metaphor she is comparing her gauze that is darkening with the satin of blood to a K.K.K. outfit and a babushka.
The mood changes during the text. It goes from a great rush of excitement in the realisation that she has cut her thumb and that it is different to her boring regime to self hatred because she has cut herself. The excitement is shown by things like “Clutching my bottle of pink fizz. A celebration this is.” Which slowly changes to self hatred through the poem with quotes like this “How you jump ---- trepanned veteran, dirty girl, thumb stump” showing that she is becoming angry at herself and blaming herself.
I thought that this was a goof poem because Plath’s strangeness interested me. I found the poem effective and interesting because of Plath’s use of lots of descriptive metaphors that create a very vivid image in the reader’s mind.
