Essay Questions

How does Charles Simic depict ideological contradiction in the poem “December”?

Charles Simic utilizes the messages inscribed on the ‘sandwich boards’ to portray the inherent ideological contradictions in the world today. People subscribe to different ideologies depending on their stance on life. The board that announces ‘the end of the world’ implies that the derelict that is carrying it has lost all hope in life. Comparatively, the other board that depicts the ‘rates of a local barbershop’ insinuates that life is still going on ( the world has not yet ended), which is ambivalent to the other board, so there is still need to seek the barbers’ services. Even though the bearers of the message are in the same situation, of destitution, their perspectives on life are mutually opposed.

How does the text in the body of the poem “Early Evening Algebra” deconstruct the poem’s title?

A literal interpretation of the title “Early Evening Algebra” would mean that the subject of the poem is making some logical algebraic computations. However, the poem text deconstructs the literal denotation of the title, when it affirms that the woman who is involved in the algebra is insane. The mad woman’s furtiveness deconstructs the poem too, and begs the question: would a mad person be nervous about indulging in an activity that would make a sane person uncomfortable? Therefore, the discrepancy between the poem’s title and the text leaves the reader undecided about the logical elucidation of the poem.

What are the psychoanalytic deductions in the poem “William and Cynthia” ?“

William and Cynthia” expounds the operations of the unconscious mind. “The Museum of Dead Ideas and Emotions” refers to the unconscious mind where suppressed ideas and feelings pile. Cynthia’s fear of the museum is associated to the unconscious feelings that she has not vanquished entirely; so, going there reactivates the feelings. The “monstrous ideas” and “naked emotions” comprises all the melancholic feelings and adverse ideas. The unconscious does not distort the emotions and ideas, it only suppresses them so that they cannot become conscious.

The comparison of the museum to a “Federal Courthouse” connotes the colossal capacity that the unconscious mind has to store various ideas and emotions in the long term. However, storage of the unconscious emotions does not guarantee that they will not manifest themselves later in life. William’s assertion; “All that (The museum) reminds him of a country fair” is a regression. The description of the museum plunges him into a regression ( which is similar to a revitalization) of the ideas and emotions that he considers to be dead.