To a Mother Leaving Home and Margaret Atwood’s Young Son by Death both employ imagery and symbolism to reflect the challenges of parenthood. These poems capture the most difficult and distressing moments that every parent has to face. These poems are a reminder that parenting can prove to be one of most difficult jobs on the planet. Both poems employ similar symbols and imagery; they are about two very different types of painful situations that parents experience.
To a Daughter is about a mom who realizes that she doesn’t need her daughter to help her through life. The poem does not mention the destination of the daughter, but rather focuses upon the mother’s emotions as well as how difficult it was to watch her daughter leave. She recalls her daughter’s first experience of independence, when she was able to learn how to ride a motorcycle without her mother. She recalls the terror she felt when her daughter was first able to ride away on a bike without her mother’s help. Then, her daughter vanished from her sight. She mentioned that her daughter became “more vulnerable to distance” (16-17). This expression reflects the anxiety and fear she feels about this situation. She must accept her daughter’s departure and watch her slip from her grasp. She is worried about her daughter’s independence and vulnerability without her mom. The book Death of a Young Boy by Drowning depicts a much worse parenting nightmare than any parent can imagine. It’s about the feeling of emptyness that comes with the loss or the grief. As her hopes and dreams fell away, her mother watched (7-8). It is evident that she loved her son, and was excited to go on this journey with him. This expression describes her feelings after losing her son. Atwood used imagery to explain her mother’s experience of the death of her son. She was unable to help her son because it happened so quickly. She remembers him being “hung in a river like a human heart”. The body was retrieved by them (17-18). They retrieved the drowned body” (17-18). To a Daughter Leaves Home uses the story of her daughter riding a bike on her own to show her separation from her son. The author uses an analogy to say “the hair flapping around behind you like the handkerchief waving hello” (21-24). She makes the analogy between the moment her daughter is leaving and her first bike ride. It hit her in that moment that her daughter was leaving. She knew she had to let go and be strong. This was an important symbol in the poem as it helps readers understand her thoughts about her first bike ride with her daughter and how they compare to their current situation. Margaret Atwood used a lot symbolism for her poem Death Of a Young Son by Drowsing. She wants to show the idea that the river symbolizes life, and she says “navigated with safety the dangerous river of his birth.” (1-2). This phrase conveys her belief that her son was created because he navigated the river. While water is an essential element that allows life to thrive, Atwood points out that it can also destroy it. The river represents how serene and peaceful life can seem at times. But, when it becomes tense and weighed down with anxiety and despair, it can make life miserable. At line 16, she says that the river was “airlocked” and that this helped her realize that the dreams she had moments earlier are now unattainable. The mother of a young child who died suddenly, she continues to say that the world must continue even though her world is crashing down. The poem ends with the last two stanzas, which are direct statements about how desperate the mother’s circumstances have been. This is to show how terrible it must feel to lose a child so young. “My foot touched the rock,” said the mother. The dreamed sailings fell apart, ragged” (26-27). This symbolises the moment she realizes her son has gone. The voyage was supposed be a trip full of new discoveries and beginnings. However, it ended with her world crumbling following the passing of her son. She said that she “planted her son in this nation like a flag” in the 28-29 lines. The flag is a symbol of the lasting impression her son made on the rest of the world. While he has passed away physically, there is still a part of him spiritually. The poems are a combination of symbolism and poetry. They show two mothers in similar situations, but with very different pains.
The authors also use imagery to show mothers how emotionally affected by the circumstances being addressed. Pastan uses language throughout her poem To a Girl’s Leaving Home to create imagery. The mother is going through the most difficult thing as a parent. Pastan created a visual depicting a child learning how and then falling off a bike. The mother says that her daughter has left and she feels sad and helpless. This visual image was created to reach the same emotional level as the mother, which is despair and a longing for the past that many others have. Atwood uses imagery to depict the mother’s emotional experience of losing her young son in drowning. She describes how her son died in the third stanza. She uses a lot of chilling imagery in this example. The mother is able to see the audience through her eyes and witness what happened that day. She is creating a detailed account of the experience to show how it impacted her life, as well as how it left her feeling hopeless.
These poems represent two very distinct hardships that parents eventually have to endure. Both poems use imagery and symbolism as a way to communicate their messages and elicit specific emotions. The poem Death of a Young Son by Drowning begins with hope and excitement for a new adventure, but ends up being a life-altering experience for the mother who loses her son. The mother’s grief was reflected in the symbols and images that are scattered throughout the poem. To a Mother’s Daughter Going Home, on the other hand is less dramatic but still leaves one feeling sad and helpless. This is because the mother has to face the reality of her daughter growing up and no longer requires her support. Margaret Atwood’s death of a young son by drowning and Linda Pastan’sTo a Daughter leaving Home both employ imagery and symbolism to address extremely different challenges of parenting that no parent can anticipate.
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