Margaret Attwood |
TitleParaphrase
Shifts
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Before reading this poem, I thought it was about exploring one’s self and going on a journey to find out who you really are. By looking at the title, I thought it could be about searching for your inner person and finding out who you really are.
Your lungs fill & spread themselves,
wings of pink blood, and your bones empty themselves and become hollow. When you breathe in you’ll lift like a balloon and your heart is light too & huge, beating with pure joy, pure helium. The sun’s white winds blow through you, there’s nothing above you, you see the earth now as an oval jewel, radiant & seablue with love. It’s only in dreams you can do this. Waking, your heart is a shaken fist, a fine dust clogs the air you breathe in; the sun’s a hot copper weight pressing straight down on the think pink rind of your skull. It’s always the moment just before gunshot. You try & try to rise but you cannot. Your lungs are spreading and growing, Wings of bright blood, and your bones Become empty and hollow. When you inhale, you will fly like a balloon And your heart is light and too big, pounding with pure happiness, pure helium. The sun’s winds blow you, Nothing is above you, The earth is an oval jewel, Radiant and blue with love. Only in dreams can this happen. Waking, your heart is shaking, Dust clogs the air you inhale, The sun’s fire copper weight pressing ahead Down on the pink rind of your head. It’s always the moment before the gun is shot. You try to rise but you cannot. In the poem Atwood uses a variety of literary devices to explain the poem. For example, she uses imagery of lungs filling and spreading themselves like “wings of pink blood”. This could be a comparison of what the lungs would look like if a person could look inside his or her own body. The wings are a symbol of freedom. Atwood insinuates that it is more freeing to fly on the inside than the outside. The outside of the body represents a controlled environment. The word “pink” to describe the wings is the connotation of life. It has a sense of a child’s health and freedom. Atwood goes on to describe the bones as hollow. The bones represent the skeleton or outline of the human body. If the body has hollow bones, then the poet could fly into them easily. Breathing is equal to an inflated balloon and the heart is beating with “pure joy, pure helium”. This is reinforcing the point that internally we are happy, joyous, and buoyant. Atwood goes on to show imagery when talking about the sea. She describes “white winds” blowing through a person and the earth is sea blue and radiant with love. This portrays the body as a tranquil loving place, or a vacation spot.
In the beginning of the poem, Atwood’s attitude is lyrical and jovial. She talks about the bones in a person’s body becoming hallow. The tone/attitude stays the same as she describes her heart being filled with pure joy. Her attitude then becomes freeing as she enjoys nature and looks down at the Earth from the sky. Gradually, the attitude becomes pessimistic as she awakens from her dream and she cannot breathe. She tries to get up and run away, but she has been killed by a gun.
Your lungs fill & spread themselves,
wings of pink blood, and your bones empty themselves and become hollow. When you breathe in you’ll lift like a balloon and your heart is light too & huge, beating with pure joy, pure helium. The sun’s white winds blow through you, there’s nothing above you, you see the earth now as an oval jewel, radiant & sea blue with love. It’s only in dreams you can do this. Waking, your heart is a shaken fist, a fine dust clogs the air you breathe in; the sun’s a hot copper weight pressing straight down on the think pink rind of your skull. It’s always the moment just before gunshot. You try & try to rise but you cannot. Blue: “It’s only in dreams you can do this.” The narrator realizes that being free can only happen in a person’s dreams Orange: Stark contrast between what a bullet can do to the internal beauty of a human body By looking at the title, a person can infer that this poem is about looking at your inner self or body. “Flying Inside Your Own Body” is about being free. By exploring your inner self, a person will be free, but the outside of a person’s body is controlled. This poem is a contrast between freedom(inside of the body) and control(outside of the body).
The theme of “Flying Inside Your Own Body” deals with fantasy and the real world. It explains that one can only be free and have happiness in his or her subconscious. When a person awakens, the he or she will no longer have that freedom, and will be subdued by the reality of life.
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