Diving Into the Wreck Poem Analysis—Let’s Go!
Adrienne Rich’s “Diving Into the the Wreck” uses a particular tone to create the overall experience and meaning of the poem. What is it? Get your diving gear ready, and let’s jump in, starting with the poem itself.
The Poem
Diving Into the Wreck
First having read the book of myths,
and loaded the camera,
and checked the edge of the knife-blade,
I put on
the body-armor of black rubber
the absurd flippers
the grave and awkward mask.
I am having to do this
not like Cousteau with his
assiduous team
aboard the sun-flooded schooner
but here alone.
There is a ladder.
The ladder is always there
hanging innocently
close to the side of the schooner.
We know what it is for,
we who have used it.
Otherwise
it is a piece of maritime floss
some sundry equipment.
I go down.
Rung after rung and still
the oxygen immerses me
the blue light
the clear atoms
of our human air.
I go down.
My flippers cripple me,
I crawl like an insect down the ladder
and there is no one
to tell me when the ocean
will begin.
First the air is blue and then
it is bluer and then green and then
black I am blacking out and yet
my mask is powerful
it pumps my blood with power
the sea is another story
the sea is not a question of power
I have to learn alone
to turn my body without force
in the deep element.
And now: it is easy to forget
what I came for
among so many who have always
lived here
swaying their crenellated fans
between the reefs
and besides
you breathe differently down here.
I came to explore the wreck.
The words are purposes.
The words are maps.
I came to see the damage that was done
and the treasures that prevail.
I stroke the beam of my lamp
slowly along the flank
of something more permanent
than fish or weed
the thing I came for:
the wreck and not the story of the wreck
the thing itself and not the myth
the drowned face always staring
toward the sun
the evidence of damage
worn by salt and sway into this threadbare beauty
the ribs of the disaster
curving their assertion
among the tentative haunters.
This is the place.
And I am here, the mermaid whose dark hair
streams black, the merman in his armored body.
We circle silently
about the wreck
we dive into the hold.
I am she: I am he
whose drowned face sleeps with open eyes
whose breasts still bear the stress
whose silver, copper, vermeil cargo lies
obscurely inside barrels
half-wedged and left to rot
we are the half-destroyed instruments
that once held to a course
the water-eaten log
the fouled compass
We are, I am, you are
by cowardice or courage
the one who find our way
back to this scene
carrying a knife, a camera
a book of myths
in which
our names do not appear.
—Adrienne Rich
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Diving into the Wreck Poem Analysis
Adrienne Rich uses an observational, detached tone in “Diving into the Wreck” to write a detailed poem that focuses on humanity; storytellers as observers, recorders, and explorers; and the isolation of life; as well as the shared community found through the experience of story, through the mythical inner journey of the writer who makes such things possible.
From the beginning, the speaker is in a unique position of being alone and yet connected to others. “I am having to do this/not like Cousteau with his/assiduous team/aboard the sun-flooded schooner/but here alone.” Notice that the most stand-out image in this piece is of the ‘sun-flooded schooner’, which though it is contrasted to the speaker’s own journey and not used to describe it, still sticks in the mind’s image of the setting. Tonally, it’s a statement with no overt emotion attached to it, as will persist throughout the rest of the poem except arguably in the very last paragraphs, near its climax. The feelings present in the beginning of the poem are less intense than they will become later, though at no point will the speaker ever reveal these feelings explicitly.
“There is a ladder./The ladder is always there/hanging innocently/close to the side of the schooner./We know what it is for, /we who have used it.” Here the speaker brings the reader into the poem for the first time by use of the word ‘we’, she is still alone, and yet not exactly alone, because she is following where others have gone before, a passage that has been experienced and documented by others, and which she now feels she must take herself. She is not talking of the physical ladder; here it represents a journey, or doorway. An invitation. Taking the invitation, prepared physically and mentally as much as it is possible to be, she goes down alone, for though connected to the others that have taken this journey before her, she must travel it by herself. “There is no one/to tell me when the ocean/will begin.”
It is a mythic story that she is now embarking on. Again, there is the reminder that she is alone, “I have to learn alone/to turn my body without force/in the deep element” Once under the water “it is easy to forget/what I came for … I came to explore the wreck./The words are purposes./The words are maps./I came to see the damage that was done/and the treasures that prevail.” Story, maps, words… to tell the story, to experience the story, she has to dive into the wreck. She cannot see from the boat above the surface of the waves what the wreck is, but must rely on her book of myths. Because she rejects those myths, or more precisely seeks to go beyond them, further than they allow, she comes into the water, taking her own journey to find “the wreck and not the story of the wreck/the thing itself and not the myth” a journey that is indeed “another story … not a question of power.”
It is only in finding the wreck that she comes into deeper contact with those others who have taken the journey, as shown by the changing narration in the poem from I to we. Suddenly she is no longer alone. Interestingly, this is also where the strict reality and calm emotions that characterized the first section of the poem are supplanted by a more mythical, symbolic reality and emotionally-charged atmosphere. First the speaker is joined by others and then, in effect, becomes the wreck itself. For there is no understanding the wreck without becoming it, if only for a moment. “The androgyny of the diver suggests not an original unity but the common bond of incompleteness, loss, and disrepair shared by all selves” (Templeton). In shared loneliness, all those who have made the journey come together, and through the telling of the poem, the speaker gives the reader some of that gift, that understanding. Those on the journey have not lost themselves; this is in no way a journey of loss but of discovery, and healing. They are still explorers, still writers, still storytellers, “the one who find our way/back to this scene/carrying a knife, a camera/a book of myths/in which/our names do not appear.”
In the end, through the use of a detached tone that never lands her too solidly on one side or the other, Adrienne Rich communicates detailed images of isolation and community that cause us to think deeply. The writer is ultimately a figure that bridges both sides of human existence.
Photo by Wakataitea, Creative Commons, via Flick. Poem analysis by Sara Barkat.
“Stunning…from start to finish. Barkat is a fierce new voice.”
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SimplyDarlene says
All kinds of WOW in both the poem and the analysis.
I like: maritime floss & threadbare beauty & haunting (instead of hunting, which I figured it to be until I slowed down in my reading).
Miss Sara B. – your keen
eye of the I
to the We
amazes simpleton
poetry eaters like
me
who gobble
detailed
depths, ever so
slight, only to
get it
on the re-read
re-eat
repeat
repeat.
Thanks!
Blessings.
Brithany zambada says
I really enjoyed reading your analysis and it helped me further understand how much of an impact her journey had on her. I believe that her emphasizing how she had to do it alone helps us understand just how important this journey is for the author. I count agree more on what the ladder represents. First time reading the poem I hadn’t realized that she wasn’t talking about a physical ladder but instead a pathway to her journey, I really liked how you mentioned that even though she is taking the journey alone the ladder connects her to other who have taken the same journey before.
Mlua says
Your Analysis of the poem was very eye opening to the comparison of what the speaker means underneath what is actually being said. It also helps understand the tones that are used throughout the poem.
Parvaneh says
I really enjoyed the perception and insight of your analysis shared. I like and appreciate how in the beginning you started by highlighting how the author uses an “observational, detached tone” and how the poem “focuses on humanity and the isolation of life”. Thank you for allowing and enabling the deepening our connections to these writings.
ruby vaughan says
Your analysis really helped me understand the text and create a stronger connection to the author.
Selam Mclean says
When the narrator of the poem was joined by others who have made the journey, you perfectly described it as “shared loneliness”. I think anyone who can relate to her journey feels alone as well.
jaalyn says
I really enjoyed this analysis of ‘Diving into the Wreck’ because it is very direct and descriptive. Barkat does a fantastic job describing the intention of Adrienne Rich and the impact it has on readers. Barkat broke down each stanza of the poem and explains how this diver’s journey is connected to those before her while also describing the purpose of Rich’s shift in tone. Lastly, Barkat successfully distinguishes the inclusivity of Adrienne Rich with the loneliness of the diver and explains their connection.
Richard Maxson says
Sara, first Anne Sexton and now Adrienne Rich. Your poem analysis is precise and enlightening. Diving Into the Wreck is not an easy poem to dive into. Brava!
mishaal says
i like very much this poem
Daniel Yeatts says
I found some dark yet important meaning within Diving Into the Wreck. A rusty old wreck at the bottom of the ocean as an analogy for anything is broody. Rich’s visuals really help move her analogy along and the descriptions of both what she sees and of herself become more and more tense. I love her self-description as a dark-haired mermaid with an armored merman circling the wreck, she and others in the writing community exploring the immersive realm of storytelling. Her words are fantastic, though they do paint a dim picture for those who choose the pen over the sword. Very cool to discover this poem, unlike any others I have yet come across.
Ashley Powell says
I loved your line “In shared loneliness, all those who have made the journey come together, and through the telling of the poem, the speaker gives the reader some of that gift, that understanding. Those on the journey have not lost themselves; this is in no way a journey of loss but of discovery, and healing.”. The speaker gives the readers some sort of a therapeutic journey they had no idea they needed. It’s as if your reading about the loneliness she feeling but reading it you feel as if you’re with her and she with you, making you not alone anymore. It’s a story about a ship lost and untouched, till it is eventually found as if she has found herself, she is the ship, you are the ship.
Natasha Rahbari says
Your analysis of the shift in speaker really helped me understand the theme of isolation versus loneliness. I loved your closing thoughts, “In the end, through the use of a detached tone that never lands her too solidly on one side or the other, Adrienne Rich communicates detailed images of isolation and community that cause us to think deeply”. When I first read this poem, I have to admit I struggled a bit with its meaning. Though I noticed some of the same golden lines that you did, I was unsure how to link them into a more solid idea. I really enjoyed your analysis because I actually feel like I can appreciate this poem on a deeper level and I can connect to Rich’s emotions.
Kelsey Bessent says
‘Diving into the Wreck’ is dark, mysterious, and self full-filling. The poem is lonely and detached until, “It is only in finding the wreck that she comes into deeper contact with those others who have taken the journey, as shown by the changing narration in the poem from I to we.” Your explanations help poetry lovers and analytical readers understand ‘Diving into the Wreck’, a poem that shows no mercy to those who do not dive deeper into the english language. The poem follows the journey of a narrator wishing to find the answers she is looking for, with the help of only herself. I will keep this poem in the palm in my hand as I embark on my own journeys throughout my lifetime
Evelyn Sager says
I enjoyed reading the last part of your analysis, where you said, “The writer is ultimately a figure that bridges both sides of human existence.” At the beginning of the poem, she talks about life and the oxygen that comes through her mask, giving breath to her lungs. then saying that we are “half-destroyed instruments.” She takes you on a journey of understanding that the air we breathe every day can be taken away from us and she experience looking at that first hand.
Evan Rose says
Great analysis of the poem. I agree with a lot of what other people are already saying in these comments but I really love how you help readers understand the poem through imagery.
Kore Morse says
I thought this was a really interesting analysis, and I came to the exact same conclusions you did while reading it myself. I think that everybody has their own form of a wreck at least once in their life, and it’s difficult to force yourself to confront it. But there is solace in knowing that others have “been there” before, in that others have been through and made it out of their struggles. I think you were completely right that the narrator in some way comes in contact with others who have been in the wreck before.
Raymond Lam says
The analysis of the poem honestly actually seems to fit the criteria. Your analysis makes more sense the more I think about it in the golden lines that I’ve chosen (not all of them) matches with the analysis made one of them being the gender difference or what gender is the diver.
Eric N says
I really enjoyed this analysis and I had very similar ideas when I read it the first time. I thought the most interesting part was when it says,” She is not talking of the physical ladder; here it represents a journey, or doorway. An invitation” based on the line,” “There is a ladder./The ladder is always there/hanging innocently/close to the side of the schooner./We know what it is for, /we who have used it.” Life is a journey, and although some steps in life might be worse than others, everyone must climb a ladder to grow up.
Hugo Carlberg says
This is a great analysis and I love the way you bring it all together. It was especially one thing I noticed in your analysis and it was your analysis of the quote; ” She is not talking of the physical ladder; here it represents a journey, or doorway. An invitation” based on the line,” “There is a ladder./The ladder is always there/hanging innocently/close to the side of the schooner./We know what it is for, /we who have used it.” I also found this quote very interesting and important to the context. She will climb something alone but it has been climbed before and that is important to think of in life. We all live our own lives but there are many people that can help us.
Collin Albert says
I enjoyed your analysis of the “Diving in the wreck” it helped me understand the poem through a different lens. My personal favorite part of the analysis was when you talked about the symbolism of the ladder. “She is not talking of the physical ladder; here it represents a journey, or doorway. An invitation”. It is certainly a different interpretation that helps put the rest of the journey into context as somewhat like the hero’s journey.
DAguilar says
“Isolation and community” is the perfect way to summarize the contents of this poem. Now it’s a bit of a stretch, but I’d like to think that the shipwreck is just a parallel to Earth’s place in the universe. Some Kansas-“Dust in the Wind” sort of thing.
Lucyyy says
I enjoyed this poem analysis for helping me understand some of the complex context of it. I specially enjoyed how the author analysis the poem’s narrator point of view. The author says how the narrator is both isolated but connected to others, which explains the tone of the poem and loneliness I was perceiving.
Nayla says
This analysis helped me understand the more complex analogies and references in the poem, I was able to understand the correlation of tone and theme that the poem carries. It is hard to capture, let alone understand the exact feeling of detachment and struggle from a perspective like the poem has. Overcoming trauma and situations that have made living and managing harder for yourself takes courage and I love how the analysis views this type of writing.
Mel H Deorsola says
This is an amazing analysis of “Diving into the Wreck.” Your use and explanation of evidence is very coherent and easy to understand for someone who is new to the poem. Your mention of tonal changes throughout the poem also helps convey the message and the feeling the author is trying to convey. Great job!
Erica Hill says
The end of the analysis rang very true for me, you are left with a sense of detachment after reading the poem. You leave your concept of gender, humanity, and objectification behind and “dive” into the wreck with Rich. You are unsure if it is fact or myth, based on reality or completely taking place purely in the mind of the author.
Thomas Barton says
I very much enjoyed your analysis of the poem. I was finally able to appreciate Adrienne Rich’s writing to its full potential. There were points that you made here that I did not notice in the multiple times I read the poem.
Martina Hipp says
Reading your analysis of “Diving into a Wreck” has really helped me get a new perspective in the poem, and gain a better understanding of what could be the meaning behind it. I particularly enjoy your analysis on how the different pronouns used by the author help convey her message. As you mention, she uses the word “I” to identify the moments in which the narrator is experiencing the world herself, and “we” to identify the times in which she reflects in the journey of the community. Your detailed explanation about how the word/pronoun choices of the author affect the development of the poem gives a new perspective in who the narrator is and to whom she may be referring when the pronouns change.
Luis Altuzar says
I am wondering if the poem is real or if it was developed by the author?
What was the author mood when she wrote the poem?
Xairan says
Your explanation of Rich’s poem actually made it more powerful and resonant to me than my own previous understanding. The fact that, as you mentioned, in order to understand the wreck and in a sense become it, or as you mentioned beyond the metaphor those feelings of pain and loss, one must see it for themselves. The isolation to me initially felt almost nihilistic but now I realize that perhaps it is under a layer of struggle with one’s emotions as the narrator embarks on this almost liminal space and ritualistic experience to go to this wreck that many others have already visited.
Rianna says
I loved to read your analysis of Adrienne Rich’s “Diving into the Wreck”. It definitely helped clarify unanswered questions within my own original analysis of the poem. I especially enjoyed the part where you depicted the “myths” within the quote because I was originally confused about that section and the particular word choice from Poet Rich. The clarification that the myths were the stories of others in books/stories (while she was living above the water) and the deeper meaning of herself depicting those myths and discovering the truth by traveling beneath the water’s surface the investigate the lost/hidden treasures became apparent through your analysis, revealing those metaphors through the poem. Thank you for clarifying and bringing light to the beautiful metaphors Rich was attempting to potray to her audience through her poetic writing in “Diving into the Wreck”.
Frank says
I think that your Analysis gave me more information when I was reading the poems, there were some words and some understanding difficulties that I was having before reading your article, and after reading your article, I feel like I have learned more and the story became more interesting This piece of information is very helpful and I appreciate all the effort in making this. When you mentioned the explanation of “There is a ladder./The ladder is always there/hanging innocently/close to the side of the schooner./We know what it is for, /we who have used it.” You gave me more information that the author wasn’t alone. she is following the other people’s footsteps and the passage has been documented and experienced by others.
Melody says
I really liked your analysis on the poem. It helped me better understand what the poem was about and what the author was trying to convey through their story. I had a difficult time making sense of it when I first read it but after reading your analysis it definitely helped me get a better sense of what the poem was about. When you talked about how the speaker brings in the reader to the story when the speaker talks about the ladder it was interesting to learn that although she’s alone we, the reader, are with her and she is going where others have gone before. It’s as if the ones there before her are with her in spirit as we are.
Cam Wildman says
Hello!
My name is Cam Wildman
I am a student at San Diego Mesa College!
I love the commentary on this poem! I really love how the poet spoke of the narrator’s fear of water and how mysterious they make the dark dark ocean sound. When the Narrator speaks of going alone, it shows the innate fears of human beings and the unknown.
carina s lopez says
I really enjoyed your analysis of this poem. you helped me understand a deeper understanding to what the poem was actually saying rather than just surface level. I liked your connection of the ladder to an opening to the adventure that others have once taken themselves. I also like where you connected that even though she goes down alone she knows its a journey that others have once taken, making it seem like she wasnt so “alone.”
Alec Bennett says
I think you created such an easy to comprehend analysis for this poem. I struggled at first to fully understand the real meaning behind this poem, and your breakdown of important lines throughout allowed me to really appreciate the work. For example, when you explained why she carefully chose the word “we” at certain points of the narrative, it really made sense. Thanks you for sharing this, I appreciate your passion for analyzing poems and the meaning behind it!
Rosie Amber says
Many thanks for adding a link to our review of Sara’s book.
L.L. Barkat says
Our pleasure! Such an insightful review. 🙂
Jeremy says
Hello Sara,
I completely agree with your interpretation of the underlying message of this poem, that it is a poem about healing. From my interpretation, I believe the wreck symbolizes past trauma, or past traumatic experiences that continue to haunt and hurt, maybe subconsciously. The dive itself is a metaphor for self analysis and introspection, of exploring your trauma and healing from it. Facing your fears, coming to terms with your insecurites. We begin on a sun-flooded schooner, floating on the seas. This implies that we are in the present, the schooner, and must descend the ladder to dive down to explore our inner workings, to explore the past and discover what makes us. The schooner is sun-flooded, which conjures up images of warmth, of blissfulness, safe and inviting. Perhaps joyful ignorance, unable to see the pain below the depths. Maybe intentional. Perhaps the schooner and the happiness aboard it, floating above the wreck, represents our defensive mechanisms keeping us afloat above the cold, dark and crushing waters that is the complicated layers of our lives.
Jessica Foyer says
This analysis was very insightful. I was struggling to understand some of the elements of the poem and how they directly related to the meaning. Your explanation of the wreck helped me understand that this poem was not just about trying to figure out life on your own, but instead about self-discovery, and how important it is that we discover our own wreck to understand our experiences and find our own voice.
Jenna says
I really liked how you broke down the poem and how you focused on each set of lines. It gave me a much better understanding of many symbols she uses that I found confusing. How you mentioned the tone that is detached is definitely spot on and I could grasp that tone coming from the poem but I couldn’t put it into words. Thanks for the breakdown and analysis because it definitely helped me understand the poem a bit more. Which will help me to interpret it differently this time around now that I understand it for its entirety.
Desirae Cobarrubias says
“Diving Into The Wreck” is indeed an incredibly powerful poem driven by emotion, and the tonal shift of the narrator. It is an emotional yet informative poem which seeks to highlight the human experience and connection the passage of time and history. As the narrator goes from explaining their sense of utter loneliness, to shifting into including the audience into a sense of “we”, there is an underlying concept of interconnectedness. From the surface to the ocean, the dive is used as a metaphor in order to explain the similarities of the human experience, how we often repeat and relive activities and events of previous generations and individuals. And from these events and our participation, we are connected to those who have participated in the same actions or events. Thus it brings into the question the the fickle nature of human existence, and how all life although temporary, is valid and should be celebrated, and reflected upon. A truly beautiful poem which seeks to illustrate and make sense of “the wreck” that is life and the very concept of human existence itself.
JT says
I really enjoyed your analysis on the poem. I had a really rough time trying to understand the poem but with your analysis it helped me understand. When you said, “In shared loneliness, all those who have made the journey come together, and through the telling of the poem, the speaker gives the reader some of that gift, that understanding.” I completely agree. Your analysis was very concise and to the point. Thank you so much for sharing.
Asifa Hussein says
This is a great analysis of the poem and I was finally able to connect some lose ends in regards to understanding the meaning behind some stanzas. It is not very useful to look at this poem very objectively since most of the meaning lies within its subjective vision. I really like it how you explained that the journey had a meaning of healing where you need to become the wreck itself in order to understand what the wreck saw and felt. Loneliness was not necessarily a bad thing but only a moment of reflection. Thank you for sharing!
Katrina says
Rich’s poem really gives off the tone of mysteriousness. Beneath the water, navigating alone, I imagine how quiet and dark it must be, yet peaceful somehow. I feel the message Rich is trying to portray matches the setting perfectly because you can get a good sense of awe and mystery simultaneously. The lines that really resonated with me are her last lines, “We are, I am, you are / by cowardice or courage / the one who find our way / back to this scene / carrying a knife, a camera / a book of myths / in which / our names do not appear”, because I sense the shift from her isolation to finding unity with others who took the journey before her. Also, analyzing the lines depicting different objects the knife could represent in way a double edged sword, a camera can capture a frozen time in space, and the book of myths can be a sort of utopian idea of a perfect world, but in reality this is not true.
Jackie says
Rich’s poem is a therapeutic reassurance on the journey we all must take eventually. The analysis clarified the theme of the poem and expands on the hardship of loneliness that will be endured. I like that the analysis commented on how the bleak tone of the poem, it certainly makes the imagery in the stanzas more luminescent. The analysis of the poem helped me break down each stanza and reevaluate my initial interpretation.
Cassandra says
I really enjoyed reading your interpretation of Adrienne Rich’s poem. I agree that Rich provides a detached tone to discuss the sense of community that the poem represents. Your analysis also helped me understand certain areas of the poem that I couldn’t quite comprehend. I love that your analysis is clear and concise and provides a good understanding to Rich’s poem, depicting her main themes and symbolisms.
Ichi says
I enjoyed reading your analysis of the poem by Adrienne Rich. As you put I feel that very much she writes about this shared loneliness that others who made similar journeys and is brought to the reader. I feel that overall though, this story can be seen from many different perspectives. When reading the poem it comes across to me as this lonesome journey with many dangerous factors at play, such as the crushing pressure as the diver comes down the ladder, that can be represented as concepts of societal views and expectations upon an individual. Expectations of how one must navigate through the world alone and inevitably that final line of a “book of myths/in which/our names do not appear.” represents to me the emphasis upon that concept of solitude and taking on a lonesome journey, but understanding that the loneliness is not just upon a single individual, but is shared through others. Overall though, I feel that very much Adrienne Rich’s purpose of this narrative is to shine light upon this shared loneliness that the androgyny of the diver plays into bringing together others who have made this journey of discovery and healing as you put it. That being said I feel that your analysis touches upon many important aspects of this piece and truly highlights the important concepts at play.
Daniela says
I really liked your analysis, and I do agree that in her writing focuses a lot on loneliness. While reading this at first it was a bit confusing and had me searching up terms I had no idea what they meant, but after learning what it meant and being able to compare my own interpretation with yours was something fun to see what parts stuck out to each other and why. ‘The thing I came for: the wreck and not the story of the wreck’ just really stood out to me at first, I didn’t know if it was because they way it was written our the meaning behind the words, but i just really love this.
Natasha says
I found this analysis to be very informative and helpful to my overall understanding of the poem. I liked how you discussed Rich’s theme of loneliness, but how she also found companionship in previous generations as well as the newly formed connections with the readers. Initially, I hadn’t noticed this juxtaposition, but your writing forced me to really contemplate this idea and how I can relate to it with my own experiences. Loneliness is something that I’ve always struggled with, but I’ve learned that being alone is okay. However, I found it comforting when you wrote, “she is still alone, and yet not exactly alone, because she is following where others have gone before, a passage that has been experienced and documented by others.” There can exist companionship in the past where people have experienced the same struggles and it’s consoling to think of it in this optimistic way.
Sierra R Johnson says
This analysis really helped me piece together the detatched and ambiguous workings of this poem. While I could initially detect that the story’s symbols carried something deeper I wasn’t quite sure what, and your expansion on the lines I analyzed helped me further word the techniques Rich uses in this poem
Nina says
Prior to reading your analysis, I only had a vague understand to what this poem was alluding to. Reading your stanza by stanza explanations really opened my mind. I like how you point out that the tone was set from the very beginning. elements of loneliness exist throughout the poem, but as she continues her journey deeper into the depths, she develops a deeper connection to those around her. Myths can be told over and over again, but actually living the story that you keep hearing about can never compare. To me, the wreck signifies deep inner suppressed emotions that the author was holding back until she learned to tackle them knowing she was not as alone as she thought she was.
Ari J. says
Awesome analysis and it was so interesting to learn about because my thoughts on it were nowhere near your interpretation, so I really appreciate reading your opinion and points of view on it. Although I might have to ask, What do you mean exactly by ‘Mythical inner journey? I get the idea of the journey, but why is it Mythical? Maybe I just ignored the part where you explained it. Thank you.