Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Marxist criticism take on William Carlos William's "the red wheel barrow"

            If Williams Carlos Williams was anything more than a physician, a career which spanned over more than 40 years and as an aesthetic artist which brought him much fame as one of the most distinguished modern American poets, he was a revolutionary and a radical leftist. His most popular poem, “the red wheelbarrow” is the living evidence of it.
            Born in New Jersey to an Puerto Rican immigrants in 1883 and his formative years much influenced by the new surge of communism across the United States in the beginning of 1900’s and spending numbers of time among middle and lower class people, he became an ardent follower of Marxism. In the year 1923, when he was 40, he did justice to his generative stage and his ideology by calling up for a revolution through his famous “the red wheelbarrow” poem which he believed would bring change in the life of poor and unfortunate people that he love. Indications are clear if one look and discern his poem in general and synonymous manner.
                                                           
                                                            so much depends
                                                            upon
                                                            a red wheel
                                                            barrow
                                                            glazed with rain
                                                            rain
                                                            beside the white
                                                            chickens.

            Williams deliberately wrote all the poem’s words in simple and lower case which divulges his endeavor to relate and identify these with ordinary masses. Even though so much has written, analyzed and admired his poem as laden with meter, enjambment and other literature terms, one should not be carried away by the beauty of these and fail to appreciate his real intention of composing this poem with well-chosen, limited and condensed with double meaning words. Unlike the rest of the poem, the first two stanza “so much depend” and “upon” do not have identical meaning other than stress and importance of words themselves. However, in the next part, “a red wheel” and “ barrow” the author choose red as this color equals with communism and intentionally separate the wheel and barrow in disguise of enjambment to give double meaning to wheel which also means revolution. The third couplet, “glazed with rain” and “water” he also gives double edge meaning to glaze as it also means cover and rain equates with flood and torrent, which means overwhelmed by oppression. In the last verses, “beside the white” and “chickens” the white color connotes successful beginning while chickens to the masses, which makes sense because chickens are the most abundant and abused animals in our realm.
            Essentially, the poem mirrors Williams’ aspiration for his lofty dream:  revolution from people who were discriminated by the system of society. He successfully wrote down his call for revolution.  

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