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Sylvia Plath Example Literary Study EssayWith reference to at least three poems by a particular poet, discuss the effectiveness of the poet's use of nature and the natural world in the presentation of significant themes and ideas.In the poems, 'Sleep in the Mojave Desert', 'Two Campers in Cloud Country' and 'Blackberrying', Sylvia Plath makes use of the natural world to convey her ideas about the overwhelming stature of nature, the hostility of the natural environment and the persona's feelings of loss of self-worth and identity.The idea of the over-whelming stature of the natural world is one which is developed throughout 'Two Campers in Cloud Country'. Plath's main concern in this poem is the insignificance of man, compared with the grandeur of the natural world. Although this theme is explored in all three poems, it is of particular significance in 'Two Campers'. We see this from the opening line of the poem, when Plath writes:?"In this country there is neither measure nor balance."The 'measure' and 'balance' referred to here are presumably those qualities we associate with humans; they are based on human terms and human ways of interpreting the world. If the ways by which humans understand the world - all their 'measure' and 'balance' - have no meaning in the wider context of our natural environment, then humans are, in reality, nothing but a dot on a much vaster landscape. Plath also introduces an important idea developed in many of her poems about nature: the natural world's indifference to man's ways, which man has always assumed are superior.This theme of the superiority of nature over man is developed when Plath writes about the clouds in Rock Lake, describing them as 'man-shaming'. The sense of superiority which humankind feels about itself is purely self-created and hints at arrogance, but when set against the stature of clouds, mankind's superiority is rendered meaningless. More than this, we are seen to be very much inferior and completely insignificant in comparison to nature. Man would assume that he is superior to a mere cloud in the sky, but Plath shows us that the truth is the reverse: man is nothing compared to the grandeur of nature, whether living or inanimate. We see this again when Plath writes of the clouds:?"No gesture of yours or mine could catch their attention,?No word make them..."Here we see the basis of human understanding turned on its head. Our 'gestures' and 'words' mean nothing to nature and so we ourselves, and our place in the world, therefore mean nothing too. The combination of this idea and the idea that the "Pilgrims and Indians might not have happened" creates an overall suggestion of the sheer extent of the gap between man and nature. The idea of ineffectual 'gestures' and 'words' combined with the idea of the 'Pilgrims and the Indians' reinforces that nature is very much superior to us. This is because through the reference to the Pilgrims and Indians, Plath shows that generations of whole civilisations have lived in this landscape and left no impression on it. The natural environment is so large and incomparably vaster than humankind that we simply cannot compete with the scale and grandeur of it. It shrugs off our presence and does not pay its respects to us: we mean nothing.We also see the theme of the overwhelming power of nature in "Sleep in the Mojave Desert". Here Plath uses personification to suggest the power that the natural environment has to distort and control insignificant humankind. We see this when she writes about the 'mad straight road'. In the desert, Plath sees a line of trees along her path, a path which is never ending and which she feels is taunting her. In the same way she used the idea of the pilgrims and Indians in 'Two Campers' to express man's inability to shape or tame nature, in 'Sleep in the Mojave Desert', Plath writes that the landscape gives very little away about its past. She says that, "One can remember men and houses…", suggesting that there is no trace of previous inhabitants. More disturbingly, and different from 'Two Campers', Plath introduces the harshness of the natural world. Plath suggests that the reason for her being only able to 'remember' this civilisation is because it could not be sustained in the harsh environment of the desert. Once again, despite his best efforts, man has been unable to tame nature and claim it for his own.This idea of nature's hostility towards man is developed in "Blackberrying". In this poem, Plath expresses the idea of the threat of nature, and one of its threats is its overwhelming power over man. We see this conveyed as the persona walks towards the sea, describing the blackberry bushes as 'hooks', as if she is being pulled against her will, hooked into facing a terrible ordeal.The end of the poem acts to show the threat and danger of the natural world because of its uncontrollable, overwhelming superiority and power over our lives. Here, Plath reaches what she has been anticipating with dread throughout the poem: the sea. She describes the noise of the sea as:?"…a din like silversmiths?Beating and beating at an intractable metal."The repetition of 'beating' suggests the sea's threatening nature, and the persona's hopelessness of ever being in a position to make a connection with nature. Not only is nature superior to human life, it is also incompatible with it. Nature has no place for humankind and the likening of it to an 'intractable metal' suggests that no amount of human effort can ever change this reality. Nature is simply too powerful, and does not need man's intervention in any way.We see this idea of the hostility of nature described in all three poems. It is prominent in "Sleep in the Mojave Desert' and 'Blackberrying'. In the first of the two, we get the impression of this idea from the very beginning of the poem. The opening line, "Out here there are no hearthstones", suggests the coldness and lack of comfort towards man. Hearthstones have connotations of warmth and homeliness. The absence of these representative things shows nature's unwillingness to accommodate man and the threat that could result from this. Plath goes on to write:?"It is dry, dry/And the air dangerous".To suggest that the very air presents danger shows the sheer extent of nature's harshness. The air is, of course, all around, so if it is dangerous then there is no escaping the hostility of nature. It is all around and unavoidable. This idea is echoed in 'Blackberrying' when the persona describes the 'slap' of the wind as she makes her way along the sea path.We again see the hostility when she writes,?"And the crickets come creeping into our hair?To fiddle the short night away."The use of the word 'fiddle' here could be interpreted as symbolic of hell and the fiddling duel a person must have with the devil in order to save his or her soul. This suggests a strong conflict between the natural environment and man, comparable to the battle between good and evil or man and the devil. The devil presents a danger and threat to man, and so having nature representative of this figure of the greatest threat draws the same comparison. Just as with the devil, nature is something to be feared and highly wary of, not something that can live harmoniously alongside man.In a similar way, "Blackberrying" shows a progressive fear of nature and the threat it presents. The word 'blackberries' is repeated in each of the first four lines, which suggests an oppressive, claustrophobic atmosphere in which the persona is stifled. Her path is surrounded by them. She cannot escape them. It is almost as if they are closing in on her. She describes the sea as being, "Somewhere at the end of it". The fact that she cannot see an end emphasises the fear of the situation heightening her claustrophobia and feeling of being trapped.As well as being caught by the blackberries' hooks, the persona observes that the blackberries insinuate themselves upon her:?"…blue-red juices. These squander on my fingers.?I had not asked for such a blood sisterhood;"The idea of her blood mixing with the blood-like juice of the berries suggests that the persona feels as if a connection between her and nature has been imposed upon her; a connection which perhaps nature uses to mock her insignificance. The connection is false, allowing nature to show that it does not need her and that she is not welcome. This idea links with the persona's perceived lack of self-worth. Knowing she is insignificant in terms of her stature in the natural world and her inability to tame its wild nature, she feels unworthy of the berries' attention. That she is an outsider in an unfriendly world is reinforced by the symbolic choughs, which caw repeatedly as she makes her way to the sea:?"Theirs is the only voice, protesting, protesting."Choughs, as a member of the crow family, are traditionally representative of death. They are often used as a metaphor to describe the journey from the physical to the spiritual world, carrying the souls from one to the other. And, for those souls who cannot make it to the spiritual world, the crows cry out. So here it could be said that as the choughs cry out for those who are caught between two worlds, they cry for the persona who is caught between the worlds of nature and humanity, belonging to neither.We also see a suggestion towards the persona's feeling of self-worthlessness at the end of "Two Campers", but in this poem the suggestion is much less threatening. The persona describes the "old simplicities" as "Lethe", a river in Greek mythology which provokes forgetfulness of the past. It seems that the persona is content to forget the past and live in a world where she is of no significance, and there are no expectations of her. Acceptance of her second-best place in the world brings a liberation and ease.The natural world in many of Plath's poems is conveyed in a negative light. In these three particular poems, she explores our insignificance in the face of nature's overwhelming grandeur as well as nature's capacity to embody hostility and threat. Her poems about the natural world lead us to contemplate, as the persona does, our place in the world. ................
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