Fitting in with the people of society can seem to Essays - Fiction

Fitting in with the people of society can seem to Essays - Fiction Fitting in with the people of society can seem to be the biggest challenge in life. In William Carlos Williams's works "The Dark Day" and "The Late Singer" the ideas of loneliness and not fitting in with society are both explored. Though the topics of the poems vary slightly, the reader can still grasp the ideas of how the speaker in each poem feels isolated from society and detached from those around him. Williams uses the devices of vivid imagery, syntax, repetition and specific diction throughout both poems in order to show the reader how the speaker in each poem feels towards society. In "The Dark Day", Williams uses various techniques in order to show how the speaker feels isolated and detached from society. Williams utilizes vivid imagery in order to show the reader how the speaker feels in regards to the people surrounding him. Williams describes the people walking by as "drawn in upon themselves" (Williams l. 7) and "hurry from one place to another" (Williams l. 8). By describing the way the people are passing by him and not paying attention to him, Williams is furthering the feeling of isolation and detachment of the speaker in the poem. It's as if the speaker is just sitting and watching life pass by without being able to do anything about it. Williams also uses a lot of repetition throughout the poem in order to show how stuck the speaker is in time and again the isolation he is feeling. Williams uses repetition when describing the people talking around the speaker and the never-ending feeling the talking gives him. Even though all this talking is o ccurring around him, the speaker still feels isolated from everyone and can't move forward. Williams also uses repetition at the very end of the poem when he says "backward, backward, backward" (Williams l.12). By using the repetition in this line, Williams is again showing how the speaker feels stuck in time and detached from those around him. Without the repetition, the reader wouldn't understand how the speaker feels stuck and unmoving, while those around him continue on with their lives. Williams also utilizes the device of syntax and varies the length of sentences throughout the poem in order to emphasize the feeling of isolation from society and how cut off they are from others. Williams uses much shorter sentences halfway through the poem when he says "Warm. Distance cut off. Seclusion" (Williams l.6). By altering the length of the sentences so drastically, the reader gets a better idea of how truly alone the speaker feels. Just like the sentences seem cut off and short, the speaker also feels cut off and distanced from society. Williams also utilizes specific diction in order to further develop the speaker's isolation and detachedness from society. Williams uses words like "seclusion", "interminable" and "no escape", in order to show how the speaker feels like there is no way to get away from the isolation he is experiencing. Without these specific word choices, the reader may not grasp how hopeless the speaker feels and the feelings of isolation and detachedness are never-ending. Lastly, Williams uses a tone of loneliness and hopelessness in order to drive home the isolation the speaker is feeling. The word choices Williams uses such as "secluded" and "no escape" help to exemplify the tone he is trying to utilize and further show the reader how the speaker feels. In "The Late Singer", Williams uses similar devices that were utilized in "The Dark Day" in order to show the reader that the speaker feels as though he doesn't fit in with the rest of society. By not fitting in, the speaker feels similar to how the speaker in "The Dark Day" felt, because both feel isolated from society just for different reasons. Williams also shows the reader that the speaker feels pressured by society to grow up faster and again this makes him feel as though he doesn't fit in with everyone else. Williams utilizes vivid imagery, just as he did in "The Dark Day", by describing scenes of nature in vivid detail. Williams describes seen such as "The old maples are opening their branches of brown and yellow moth-flowers"