Author: m.applebaum

Yehuda Amichai’s poem, “An Arab Shepherd is Searching for His Goat on Mount Zion,” touches on some delicate but powerful points. The two characters in the story are described as being on opposite hills; Both are searching for something important to them. The Arab man is searching for his goat, and the Jewish father is searching for his son. They are both in their “Temporary failure,” a description that begins a subtle threading of connections between what seem at first to be two people divided on opposite hills. Even though the two seem to be far apart on one level, they end up  having more in common than you’d think. Their voices are “met above” and they finally find what they have been looking for. The child and the goat are found in the same bush. The poem also nods at the idea that children should not be caught up in the issues of their parents, in “the wheels of the ‘Had Gadya’ machine.” In the end, the poem draws a picture of two people who turn out to be very much alike.

Frost’s “Mending Wall” depicts the relationship between two neighbors. The narrator and his neighbor meet to repair the fencing wall between them, but the narrator does not believe there should be a wall there at all. The comedic and tragic aspects of the poem go hand in hand as the narrator tries to convince his neighbor that there are no wandering cows on either property, and there is no need for a wall between the two properties. The wall crumbles with the passing of time. Nature itself agrees with the narrator, who sees the wall as an unnecessary, cold barrier between two neighbors, neither of whom need to be walled in or walled out. Boulders crumble on either side, and the two men struggle to put them back and balance them in place. ‘Good fences make good neighbors,’ insists the neighbor, not really listening to the man who lives next door. The concept of building a wall for no reason (think of racism, segregation and immigration laws) is comedic in nature because many absurd walls, both physical and metaphorical, are taken too far by those who believe in them. It is tragic for the same reason. The wall represents distance and animosity between people, the opposite of goodwill and friendship. “Good fences make good neighbors” works for those who build walls to keep people out of their lives. The expression, like Frost’s poem, is comedic and tragic at the same time.

Betrayal and infidelity play leading roles in The Gilded Six Bits. The story begins with Missie May and Joe playing flirtatiously and obviously in love. Their relationship seems strong. Joe even notes; “That was the best part of life–going home to Missie May.” One evening on his walk home, Joe thinks about their future and imagines having children and starting a family: “…he saw it with his feelings. It made him yearn painfully for Missie… He thought about children.” The scene is set for disaster as Joe arrives home early to find his wife in bed with Slemons. Joe’s intense love for Missie and his dreams of growing old together make the moment especially tragic. Her infidelity breaks his heart and creates inordinate damage and grief for them both. But betrayal and infidelity do not break their marriage. When Missie gives birth to a baby boy, whose paternity is in question, Joe decides to reclaim his life and leave the painful chapter behind. He has a son to raise, after all. He rids himself of the gilded coin left behind by Slemons on the night of the affair. This act symbolizes Joe’s readiness to renew his faith in his wife and to begin rebuilding their fractured past. 

Dimitri is a misogynistic, adulterous man who has little or no interest in the welfare of anyone but himself. He speaks crudely of women and shows no appreciation for his own marriage. He escapes his wife and ventures out to the resort town of Yalta, which throughout the story symbolizes fantasy. Even as he meets Anna, the woman with whom he soon forms an intimate relationship, he finds himself unable to compliment her without adding some form of criticism: “He recalled her slender, delicate neck, her lovely grey eyes; There’s something pathetic about her, anyway.” Dimitri tries to discredit  Anna’s beauty and dismiss his growing fondness for her. Once she leaves Yalta to return to her sick husband, though, he misses her. His feelings for Anna are at odds with his general disdain for women, and their brief relationship leads him to recognize a part of himself he did not know existed. He is forced, ultimately, to admit that, inferior or not, he cannot live without women. After his time in Yalta, he is a changed man: “…he no longer cared for arguments; he felt profound compassion, he wanted to be sincere and tender…” Dmitri’s affection for Anna has humbled him and softened his gruff persona. He sheds his misogynistic self and embraces the changes brought on by his unlikely love affair.

Chekhov’s characters Dmitri and Anna meet at the seaside resort town of Yalta. It is a  fantasy vacation spot, away from the problems of everyday life. There are not many exciting things to do in Yalta, and when people have time on their hands, they sometimes get into trouble. With Yalta as the setting, the story is ripe for an illicit affair. When Dmitri meets Anna and their fling is set in motion, the town instantly becomes infused with romance. Colors, sounds and scents come alive. When they leave Yalta, the town turns gray and dull. Beautiful scenery and floral scents are replaced by descriptions of the arrival of autumn and cold weather. Yalta is a good setting choice because its breezy, lazy environment is perfect for an adulterous affair. Its significance to the story is enhanced by Chekhov’s varying descriptions of the town, which mirror the emotions of the characters and developments in the narrative.

Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) distinguished herself from other poets with her unique use of punctuation. The dashes that appear throughout her poems help ensure that readers know exactly where to pause and what to emphasize. Her use of capitalization, similarly, help readers understand key points. Dickinson’s deliberate use of dashes and unusual capitalization clarifies the meaning of her poems and reduces the risk of misinterpretation and unanswered questions. Dickinson’s poems were designed to be read just as they were written, and to be understood exactly as she had intended.