Parsley Rita Dove Analysis

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THE IMAGE OF PARSLEY In the poem “Parsley” the author Rita Dove uses very strong imagery throughout most of this poem. This usage of vivid imagery is placed in the poem in order to expose the harsh realities of the general’s psychological disposition and the oppression faced by the Haitian people to the reader. The imagery used in this poem gives a somewhat clear understanding of how the general became insane, the actions resulting from his insanity and how the significance of a single word affected the Haitian people. In the poem the author uses clear and precise details in order to explain the origins of the general’s insanity. An example o f this literary clarification occurs in the ninth stanza, this is where the author explains how the general’s mother died after she collapsed in the kitchen while baking skull-shaped candies for the Day of the Dead. This tragic occurrence results in the general hatred for sweets and shows the reader the generals tainted justification for his psychotic actions throughout this poem. The imagery used in this poem clearly shows the love and respect…show more content…
Throughout the poem the author does a good job of expressing to the reader the significance of seemingly insignificant things. All of these so-called insignificant actions or objects all trigger the very significant emotion of hate towards the Haitians people by the general. An example of this is in stanza eight where the author gives significance to regular objects like the lack of curtains and the parrot in the brass ring, the author does this in order to give a subtle incite to the reader about what caused the general to kill. Throughout the poem the author does a good job of using this subliminal imagery in order to give the reader an idea of what’s going on in the poem without giving the story away but still keeping the readers
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