Margaret Attwood |
Title- First Thoughts |
1. Who is the “sad child”?
2. Why is he or she sad? 3. Could the child be Atwood herself? |
Connotation- Literary Devices |
“Hug your sadness like an eyeless doll”- simile
Imagery- “Mouth sulky with sugar” “New dress with the ribbon”- lets the reader know that the “child” is a girl ·“The ice cream smear” -All of these suggest innocence of childhood Symbolism- “…the red flame seeping out of you and igniting the tarmac beside your head or else the floor, or else the pillow…” – o The flame represents the struggles in the child’s life. o The child may not literally be burning to death, but her struggles will always be with her until she lets them go. “The favorite child” o This may represent the “favorite child” in the eyes of God. o If taken more literally, it may just mean the “favorite child” of the girl’s parents. |
ParaphraseYou're sad because you're sad.
It's psychic. It's the age. It's chemical. Go see a shrink or take a pill, or hug your sadness like an eyeless doll you need to sleep. Well, all children are sad but some get over it. Count your blessings. Better than that, buy a hat. Buy a coat or pet. Take up dancing to forget. Forget what? Your sadness, your shadow, whatever it was that was done to you the day of the lawn party when you came inside flushed with the sun, your mouth sulky with sugar, in your new dress with the ribbon and the ice-cream smear, and said to yourself in the bathroom, I am not the favorite child. My darling, when it comes right down to it and the light fails and the fog rolls in and you're trapped in your overturned body under a blanket or burning car, and the red flame is seeping out of you and igniting the tarmac beside you head or else the floor, or else the pillow, none of us is; or else we all are. |
Stanza 1: This child is sad because sadness is just a part of life. At this age, it is inevitable. The author/speaker insists the child to go get some help from someone or to just hug her doll and get some sleep. Stanza 2: All children are sad at some point, but some heal. Don’t forget about the good things in “your” life. To get over the sadness, buy “yourself” something “you” like or something “you” love to do. Stanza 3: “Forget what?” Forget the sadness and what has caused it, or what caused the child to be in this state of sadness “now.” Specifies what has caused the sadness… on the day of the party “when you came inside” with pink cheeks and wanting something sweet to eat; with a new dress on and a ribbon in “your” hair, and the ice cream on “your” face, and “said to yourself in the bathroom, I am not the favorite child.” Stanza 4: “My darling”, at the end of the day, no matter how or where “you” end it… (“under a burning car” or “under a blanket”) Stanza 5: …If the “red flame” is coming off of “you” and “your” head is lying on the ground, the floor, or even a pillow, no one is the “favorite child” unless everyone is. |