- 1
It’s been suggested that the railroad in “Totem” is the one that stretched between Plath’s home and her husband, Ted Hughes, from whom she’d recently separated when she wrote this poem. What possible meaning does this add to the descriptions of the train tracks and train?
The engine, or head of Plath’s family, is killing the bonds between them. The railroad approaches a destination of death. But there’s no train station at the end of the line, just a chance to unpack oneself and realize one is the same person as always, naive. There’s just doom.
- 2
How does Plath use language to indicate the body in “Contusion” is dead?
The only color is that of the bruise,...
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