Dog's Death by John Updike - Essay Example

? Final paper It is almost inevitable to suffer the loss of a loved family member, be it a wife, a father, a brother, or even a dog.How we welcome death is the theme of many poems. The dying almost always wishes for a regal death, relaxed at home, or while sleeping. The family is almost always enthusiastic to fight, or hearten the dying to fight, against death, even in the face of sureness. In Dog Death by John Updike, the puppy attempts to hide from view so she can die in serenity; however the family rushes her to the vet to fight against death for her. In Do not go gentle into that good night by Dylan Thomas, the persona is beseeching his father to struggle against death. The subject in both pieces is, in particular, decorum in the face of foreseeable death. By examining, comparing and contrasting these two pieces, we can notice that whilst the dying may be contented to rest, families demand a fight. The analysis of the style, content, and form of Dog’s Death by John Updike and Do no go gentle into that good night by Dylan Thomas forms the bulk of this paper. Dylan Thomas’s father had been a stout, aggressive man most of his life, and when he was in his late eighties, he was attacked by a streak of blindness and suddenly became weak- his son was disturbed seeing his father become “yielding” or “good-natured”. In this poem, Thomas is inspiring his father to continue being the vicious man he had formerly been so that he can fight against death. Conversely, Dylan Thomas was lyrical poet, implying that he expresses personal feelings in his work. This poem explores the vulnerability associated with growing old and edging toward death. Further, Do not go gentle into that night does not really quite fit an elegy, because the mood is much more zealous than solemn, however as al lyric poem about death, it does fit the typical definition. Thomas Dylan integrates symbolism and metaphors to infuse passion and emotion into villanelle without sacrificing structure. The most recognizable example is the comprehensive metaphor of day being life, night being the afterlife, and sunset being the time of death. No doubt this poem is a type of villanelle, with a rime scheme alternating night and day. Thomas (1998) says, “Do not go gentle into that good night” (p.12). For this case, the dying of the light symbolizes the act of dying, and even when the sun emerges in the tenth line, it suddenly fades away before it was even sighted. The other style that Thomas uses is the combination of both metonymy and personification; this is evident in line two.” Thomas (1998) says “Old age should burn and rave” (p.12). There only six stanzas in Do go gentle into that good night with a straightforward rhyme structure that contradicts the complex message of the poem. In particular, it is apparent that this poem about death to a father when analyzed closer, it becomes clear that it is also about life and how best to live it. The structure of this poem brilliantly invokes certain images and uses certain literary devices that arouse deep imagery. The narrator of the poem appears to think is not befitting for a wise man to die calmly in old age. Further, the speaker seems to be encouraging the listener that death is something that should be faced head on rather than mutely received (Clagston 2010). There are also symbols of “a life burning brightly” or “going out with a bang.” The picture of the persona’s father “there on the sad height” has varied explanations; it can be the stand his casket sits on, the symbolic mountain gazing down into the Valley of Death, or basically a point in time denoted as place. When Thomas (1998) writes “Old age should burn and rave at the close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of that night”(p.12), he simply is articulating the idea that going towards death should be something we do in submissive way, but rather we should fight against it and go out in a rage of splendor. When he says, “rage, rage against the dying of the night” it becomes obvious that the dying light means darkness, which is a metaphor for death and that old age; we should “burn” with life stirs in our minds the images of light, life and brightness. At this point, the first stanza openly defines and outlines the personas beliefs about aging and death. Additionally, Thomas uses four types of men as a symbol of what he perceives of his father. He thinks that his father is wild, grave, good and wise. And because these four types of men fight, he believes that his father should as well. Thomas (1998) says Rage, rage against the dying of the light” (p. 12). Blinding eyes could blaze like meteors is simile. And “curse, bless me now with your fierce tears, I pray” is a paradox. Thomas integrates in the poem Do no go gentle into the good night several other literary devices. These include assonance and alliteration. The first line is alliterative in the following ways: “night” and “not” and also “good” and “go”. This alliteration emphasizes the line that is repeated four times. Additionally, there is extra alliteration in the fifth stanza with “blind”, “blinding” and “blaze”. The three are stressing on the beginning. A similar literary technique is assonance. For instance, assonance is evident in the third line where it is repeated, “dying” and “light”. This openly also has a recurring first word “Rage”, placing a lot more stress on Dylan’s desire for his father to fight . The unidentified listener is not concealed until the last stanza when we discover that the listener is the persona’s father. Contrary, the first stanza denotes an apostrophe because it begins with the vital “Do no…” lastly, the oxymoron in the last stanza, second line “Curse, bless, me with your fierce tears” embodies a yearning for the father to cry fervently and fight against demise, a curse since he is dying, yet a blessing as he is fighting a valiant battle. All these literary instruments, including assonance, alliteration, similes and metaphors, amid others offer a deeper meaning for those willing to plow deeper and deeper. Further, all these literary tools are premised on the fight for life in the face of unavoidable death. Dog’s Death is an example of a narrative poetry-the poetry is caught in a weaver’s tale. The narrative from was right for the theme of John Updike’s poem Dog’s Death. For example, the subject about the loss of a loved one is normally told in the form of stories. Updike’s use of narrative style forms a vivid image of the dog’s value to the family. The first stanza no doubt makes it clear that the poem is about a puppy. Updike (2000) says “And to win, wetting there, the words, Good dog! Good dog” (p.33). Updike has personified the dog, to emphasize the effect of the loss of a loved one, be it a husband, father or child. The third line and the fourth stanza the persona tells us that the dog was surely loved. Updike (2000) writes “And my wife called in a voice imperious with tears” (p.33). In the third stanza the narrator show us that the children loved the dog and at times played with her. Updike (2000) writes “Monday morning, as the children were noisily fed and sent to school, she crawled beneath the youngest’s bed” (p.33). The noticeable metaphor in the poem comes in line twelve;” her heart was learning to lie down forever.” Updike has also used other literary techniques, including assonance in the eleventh line, including the words “still”, “limp” and “twisted”, the twelve and thirteenth line have “died”, “tried” and “bite”. This poem has so very little metaphors and symbolism; instead it is filled with stratum upon stratum of meaning, which still makes it retain its value by making less vulnerable. However, these two works epitomize the personal styles of the poets who wrote them (Sarosi 2008). Dylan Thomas poetry Do not go gentle into that good night is a form of villanelle. It a French poetic kind that in essence as a medium for rural, effortless and light verse. And Thomas use of this form for the theme of death in his poem enhances the irony of begging a dying person to be rage. Without doubt, Thomas selected this from because of the repetitive nature which allows the repetition of imperative lines. For instance, “Do not go gentle into that good night” and “Rage, rage against the dying of the light.” As a result of its tight formal structure of this form, the theme which is the command to the father to not accept death, so easily finds itself to the dichotomy of “day” and “night”, which represent life and death in the poem. The rhyme scheme in the poem is alternating “night” and “day.” Villanelles are nineteen long, with six stanzas. The first five stanzas normally have three lines each, and the last stanza has four lines. Further, they are modeled intricately such that they have elaborate rhyming schemes as well as refrains. “Do not go gentle into that good night” and “Rage, rage against the dying of the light”, are both perfect examples of refrains in the poem. In the first stanza, “Rage, rage against the dying of the light” is repeated in lines, two, five, eight, eleven, fourteen, and seventeen. They intricately rhyme with each other as well as with “bay”, “way”, “gay”, “pray” and “day” in that order (Clagston 2010). John Updike’s Dog’s Death, on the contrary, does not adhere to any strict structuring. The poem is just twenty lines long, with five-four stanzas. The poem is not filled with repetition. The only repletion of words that exist is “Good Dog” which occurs in the last line of the first stanza, and the last line of the last stanza. No less, every line is structured in such a way that it only has about ten and thirteen syllables, with no judicious outline, and the end rhyme is inconsistent. A careful examination of the poem reveals that every line merely rhymes with a further line such as lines six and eight: “forever” and “fur”, also lines nine and ten, if at all, rhyme with one another: “bed” and “fed”. The two poems are of different kind: Do not go gentle into that good night is villanelle, while Dog’s Death is less structured. In Dog’s death the major focus is a young, unidentified puppy. Updike (2000) writes Too young to know much” (p.33) therefore now beginning to understand puppy training. The narrator, that is, the dogs, master, is married with at least two children. Besides his family, the dog’s master recognizes the puppy as part of the family. When the puppy felt ill, the family “teased her with play,” assuming she was only feeling unwell, not recognizing that they were in real sense causing much more pain. When the couple recognized that the puppy was actually more unwell, or harmed, than they had at first thought, they rushed to the vet, with the puppy in the persona’s laps, as opposed to the back seat. For this case, this point shows us that the family was really strong-minded to fight for her, although” twisted” and “limp”, she was in no good condition to fight for herself against death. At the very moment of her untimely demise, the puppy attempted to “bite my hand”, which is indicative of the puppy’s refusal to die. Additional proof of her familial relationship is the narrator’s fondling “her war fur” and his wife speaking “in a voice imperious with tears.” And in spite of being “surrounded by love,” death eventually visits the puppy, as it visits to us all in our time. As we see it, Thomas focuses on the dying man while Updike covers the subject of a dying puppy. These two poets both acknowledge the certainty of death (Clagston 2010). Dylan Thomas possibly wrote Do not go into that good night about his own father. The narrator is beseeching his father no to throw in the towel in favor of death, but fight against it with all his might. Thomas (1998) writes “Do no go gentle into that good night/ Rage, rage against the dying of the light” (p.12). Because the narrator is begging, one can think that the dying father is not fighting as the son is talking. Thomas indicates that death is eventually a certainty, and that all men, “good men”, “wise men”, “grave men” and” wild men” must eventually die. Nevertheless, because the inevitability of death eventually visits someone as Thomas put it, does not mean it should be established. Thomas (1998) says Old age should burn and rave at close of day” (p.12). In any case, the second stanza derives the point home when Thomas (1998) says “Though wise man at their end know dark is right” (p.12). This means that intelligent men always know death will eventually come for them, but they are urged not to give in to it because there is more to; there is more to life and whatnot. The reason why the speaker is encouraging all men to fight against death is not for their own sake; the narrator is urging them to give finality and hope to the family that they will, leave behind (Yerkes 2010). In conclusion, a poem is usually a narration in concerted form. When the two poems Do not go gentle into that good night and Dog’s Death are compared at their most fundamental stage in structure, style and substance, they both demonstrate the need of the family to fifth against death for a loved one, be it a father, husband or dog, or child. These two poems concede the certainty of death yet still as the same time disregarding any notion of giving in to death easily, but instead raging “against the dying of the light.” References Clagston, R.w. (2010). Journey into Literature. Retrieved from http://content.ashford.edu/books Russell, C. (2009). How to Analyze Poetry. New York, NY: Macmillan. Sarosi, A.F. (2008). New Romantic Tendencies in Dylan Thomas’s Poetry: Critical Analysis of Three Famous Poems and Texts. Pedagogical Implications. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. Thomas, D. (1998). The Pomes of Dylan Thomas. London: Routledge. Updike, J. (2000). Endpoint and Other Poems. New York, NY: Anchor. Yerkes, James. (2010). A Critical Analysis of John Updikes’s Poetry. New York, NY. Basic Books. Read More