My Life had stood - a Loaded Gun
Emily Dickinson's 764th or 754th poem, depending on which number you wish to use, is my favorite work that we have covered in class. The poem's central stylistic premise is the personification of an inanimate object; in this particular instance a gun. The general tone that I see in the poem is a profound sadness. The narrator laments for the immortality of an object that was never alive.
A fellow group in class reviewed this poem and brought up the argument for an interpretation of gender roles and paternal hierarchy. While all interpretation of any work are valid in their own right, this particular point of view is not one that I agree with. It is a possibility that a feminist agenda could have been involved with the poem. It is much more likely that the surface question of the immortality of a non-living object is the central theme of the poem.
Ryan, both interpretations would be possible. One of the great things about Dickinson's work is that it can't be reduced to a single message, and the tone of sadness you discern would work in both cases.
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