Poems comparison Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Poems comparison - Essay Example There is no irony or sarcasm in this poem, when compared with the other two. Barbie Doll refers to the chilling stereotyping a young girl, growing up, is subject to. She is expected to conform to unrealistic standards of beauty and behavior, to become a pleasing, plastic, plaything, and forget her own individuality. In the process, the girl loses her self-esteem and resorts to suicide. The only time that she is able to conform to society’s norms is after her death—which implies that these norms are killing. This urge to be stylish is referred to in Titanic as well. The urge is so strong that it is not unlikely that people, if given a chance might actually choose to voyage again on the doomed Titanic, just to be able to go down grandly! There are only two instances in the poem, where the poet uses some kind of literary flourish, by characterizing puberty as â€Å"magic† (a metaphor) and describing the girl’s good nature wearing out â€Å"like a fan belt† (a simile). However, beneath the mere presentation of facts lurks a suppressed emotion, which the reader relates to, and the result is therefore an evoking of similar emotion. Titanic, however, has no underlying emotion. The poem mocks at people’s tendency to pursue blindly, that which is considered fashionable—like lemmings rushing to a mindless death. But it certainly invokes in the reader, by its mocking style, a horror of our tendency to want to conform to the fashion of the day, irrespective of consequences. The poem highlights how modern media romanticizes even the most terrible of events, and the power of the media over our lives. Both Titanic and Barbie Doll are written in the third person, to achieve distance in the presentation, while Philadelphia, in the first person, immediately establishes emotional proximity with the reader. However, the first two poems have a certain tension, which evoke further