“Remember How the Moon Survives” is a beautiful, heartfelt poem that illustrates the struggles of childhood sexual abuse as well as the strength that is needed in overcoming such misfortune. Kingsolver makes it a point to demonstrate the hardship of being a victim of sexual abuse by using her talent in writing. In doing so, Kingsolver acts as a voice of those who remain silent of their abuse.
In a special way Kingsolver is very much like the women we have studied in previous units given that she is speaking out about an issue that must be addressed. For instance, Adrienne Rich put forth her voice in discovering what motherhood is really like for some mothers, with weight on patriarchy, identity, and culture. Others poured their hearts into novels, like Toni Morrison, who unravels the dark side of beauty perceptions such as Dick and Jane, putting great emphasis on identity. Some women have spoken about issues through art, like Alma Lopez for instance. She courageously pieced together art that symbolized gender, class and culture making her work bold and powerful. Moreover, Barbara Kingsolver does a phenomenal job in capturing the emotion of one experiencing abuse and folds the story of one’s childhood into a symbolic poem.
The poem begins,
"draws herself out crescent-thin, a curved woman. Untouchable, she bends around the shadow that pushes itself against her," (Kingsolver). This line reveals the child experiencing abuse, "untouchable" as she "bends" about, revealing the victim's way of dealing with the forced misery.
“How you learned to draw your life out like the moon,…the little hopeful flowers of your knees pressed against the wall and its mockery of paint, always the little-girl colors,”(Kingsolver).
Kingsolver uses the moon as a model for the child experiencing abuse because the moon survives the changes that it endures and it seems that Kingsolver wants the child to know this.“The little hopeful flowers of your knees” reveals the growth the child has yet to do as well as the minute hope of life that the victim of the abuse has. Kingsolver indicates that she is writing about a child who is robbed of being an adolescent by acknowledging the walls painted with ridicule for a child that is a victim of sexual abuse, “mockery of paint, always the little-girl colors,”(Kingsolver).
"Remember How the Moon Survives" is a poem that concerns the struggles of identity, a reoccurring theme in our course of study. Kingsolver illustrates the child’s loss and discovery of identity as the child experiences and survives the abuse throughout the poem. In particular, I am able to relate this poem to Toni Morrison's novel, "The Bluest Eye." In this particular literary piece Morrison demonstrates the troubles of sexual abuse and does so to reveal to her audience about the courage and strength that must be held among those that are victims of sexual abuse in order to survive and inform those who are unaware of the difficulties sexual abuse creates. Kingsolver targets this audience as well, fueling the discussion on sexual abuse. Also, the child that Kingsolver describes in her poem reminded me of Virginia Woolf's, "Mrs. Dalloway" in that Clarissa Dalloway felt lost and confused at a time in her life just as the child had in this poem, reflecting a sense of identity. Social Construction can also be related to this poem in that the environment surrounding the child was overwhelmingly abusive, which may affect her for the rest of her life. She has already learned how to disregard the sexual abuse; therefore, it is not out of the question to say that she may disregard any sort of feelings that may come from regarding her intimacy because of the association she may have with her abuse. The child in the poem may be constructed by her society to feel and know that intimacy is shared among those that love and care for another, but may instead attribute intimacy with disgust. Moreover, Kingsolver's ability and interest in issues that concern others help make her a great writer and incredibly worthy of a fan page.
Works Cited
Kingsolver, Barbara."Remember how the Moon Survives." Feminist Resources for Women and Girls. 2008 http://womensstudies.homestead.com/index.html
Intense topic, but you did well at displaying how this poem related to other pieces in our course. The only thing I would have liked is perhaps more information on Kingsolver sexual abuse experience and how she worked to overcome it. Then perhaps a list of any other works she's produced that deal with this issue as well. But good job at analyzing the poem and breaking it down for the reader.
ReplyDelete-Hannah Morris
Thank you, Hannah. Kingsolver wrote quite a few pieces other than this piece that included sexual equality. Just to name a few, The Bean Trees and The Lacuna have also been recognized for being such compelling literary pieces but not only for that particular subject as she addresses many other issues. I know that Kingsolver is an active second wave feminist and works to challenge politics and reveal her own interpretation of the world. I am not sure if she experienced sexual abuse herself, but I do know that she is working as a voice for such victims which I think is great.
ReplyDelete-Tracy Villarreal
Overall your Blog has a lot of information and an interesting background. I just feel that you could have put more pictures and maybe have made it more interactive so we can navigate our way around, instead of just scrolling down the page. Also I would like to know if she had any other poems about this same issue? In all, good job :) I enjoyed visiting your blog.
ReplyDeleteYou did a good job of relating the topics that Kingsolver discusses to the topics we discussed in our class. Your analysis of the poem is very good. Along with the opening line being a way for the child to deal with the abuse, could another way be like the line "You stop your heart like a clock: these hours are not your own. You hide your life away..."? This could be one of the mechanisms to keep that hope of life you also talked about.
ReplyDelete-Ashley Fellers
Kaylee,
ReplyDeletethank you for your comment. If you read the other comment, I answered the very question you asked me. Kingsolver is very active in her community and is a voice for those that remain silent about their abuse.
Ashley,
I appreciate your comment. I worked very hard on my interpretation and I am very happy that someone appreciates it :) yes, that is a very creative way I will keep that in mind.
-Tracy Villarreal