Analizing Cliche Essay

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Analyzing “Cliché” In the poem “Cliché” by Billy Collins, the first line in the first stanza automatically reveals why the poem has that specific title. “My life is an open book” (1) is a cliché alone in itself. All throughout the poem, Collins uses a book analogy to cover up the underlined meaning. He views himself as a book in order to portray his feelings and emotions. When reading “Cliché” you almost feel like Collins is in a state of sadness, almost along the lines of depression. He is trying to work through his life in order to find out who he is as a person. The poem that Collins wrote almost goes back and forth, writing each stanza contradicting the one before it. It’s like Collins is having this ongoing battle in his mind, trying to decide if he wants to be an open book, or a closed book. In my opinion, Collins wants to figure out what kind of man he wants to be, what kind of people he will allow himself to trust, and what circumstances and experiences is he going to let reflect who he becomes as a person. The first stanza of “Cliché” deals with the more “open book” aspect of Collins’ poem. “My life is an open book. It lies /here on a glass tabletop, its pages shamelessly exposed” (1-2). The point Collins is trying to get across is that he feels like he himself is exposed to the world. “It lies here on a glass tabletop” represents a kind of transparency; like he is almost letting others see who he is, or who he wants to become. When you read onto the third line in the first stanza, you get the sense that Collins is a bit frail in his confidence, almost as if he is letting others see who he is, even if some of those things are mistakes that he has regretted doing/ making in the past. “…outspread like a bird with hundreds of thin paper wings” (3) When he mentions “thin paper wings,” he is trying to say that he is very delicate and once again, frail. He
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