Ann Jacob
Ms. Nichole Wilson
AP Multicultural Literature B
Dig
to the Core
“Digging” by Seamus Heaney demonstrates how
although your roots hold you in place, you still must dig for your own
identity. I noticed similarities within this poem and my second novel,
“Unaccustomed Earth”, and specifically the short story, “A Choice of
Accommodations” by Jhumpa Lahiri. Both “Digging and “A Choice of Accommodations”
convey similar themes of identifying your roots but creating your own story. I
enjoyed this poem because it was easy to read and understand, yet it had many
internal themes and meaning that were quite intriguing. To start, the title “Digging”
not only indicates the physical action but also digging for your identity. In
Heaney’s poem, the speaker, not specifically Heaney, is a writer, watching
remembering, and respecting his father and grandfathers work as farmers, hoping
that his work will rise in merit to their level. In the first stanza, as the
speaker watches his father below, his mind begins to wander, imagining how
differently he will evolve compared to his familial roots. Throughout the
entire poem, there is no rhyme scheme. By choosing to omit this part of the poem,
the poet allows the poem to flow slowly, permitting the speaker to reminisce
over the past and prepare for his future.
The speaker also
references many earthly symbols such as the “living root” (Heaney l.27). The
poet incorporates this stylistic device into the poem in order to create
numerous meanings and to give depth to the poem. In the speaker’s case, the
roots not only stand for familial roots but also references the nature of
roots. Roots gather minerals and water to give the plant energy in order to
grow. Similar to the plant, the speaker also gathers energy to begin digging a
new life. The speaker says that although he’s got “no spade to follow men like
them….I’ll dig with [my pen]” (Heaney 1. 28, 31). In connection with “A Choice
of Accommodations”, I am able to see the parallel between the speaker and Amit.
Amit is a Bengali man who has a faint resentment to his parents ever since he
was “stunned by his parents’ decision” to drop him off at Langford boarding school
(Lahiri 95). Nonetheless, he strives for their approval, although he does not
follow the typical Bengali life mentality; he married an older, Caucasian women
and didn’t make doctor from Columbia, and instead chose to begin writing for a
journal. Throughout the story, as Amit and his wife, Megan, attend a wedding at
Langford, Amit remembers how it all began. After being emotionally detached
from his parents and wife for some time, Amit begins to see what he has been
hiding from and with his “heart beating rapidly,” he begins to rekindle his
relationships with his parents and wife (Lahiri 127). The connecting themes of identity and
approval of authority figures allows these two works to mesh in a way that
conveys the need to find one’s identity.
The parallel between the actual act of digging and digging or searching for identity is fascinating. I've always loved an author's ability to tie in symbols seamlessly. My novel also touches on the embedding of mental transformation into physical transformation so I think it would have been interesting for you to go more in depth on the meaning and effect that technique creates. It allows the readers to be more engaged, gives them a better understanding of the character's internal feelings and might also give way to the author's bigger purpose depending on the physical image he or she creates.
ReplyDeleteAlso maybe you could explain further on why the poem addresses a “living root” instead of just a root? What does the word “living” in your opinion function to do? What role does history play in Amit’s life and how specifically does that affect his future actions? Maybe you could clarify the description of “living root” as a stylistic device to, more specifically, personification and talk about why the author would have used this device and the function it plays.
ReplyDeleteYour essay has really helped me relate nature symbolism to identity. With your description of the way roots help a plant to grow and survive and how that could have to do with a person’s personal background and family history I understand better how Lahiri’s works function and how she effectively addresses the importance of displacement of humans from one setting to another and from one generation to another. It helps me to better see the function of changes and the effects they have on the person experiencing them.
I liked your thoughts on “Dig to the Core” and how it connects to your independent novels a lot, the only thing I didn’t understand was how the lack of a rhyme scheme causes the poem to slow down. Perhaps instead of causing the poem to go more slowly in order to allow the author to ponder and prepare, it ties into the theme of “creating your own story”. The author doesn’t have a specific rhyme scheme but creates their own just like their life.
ReplyDeleteThe concept of “roots” is also very interesting. When you think of roots, you see many branches extended in multiple directions and burying themselves into different parts of the soil. Our personal roots do the same, especially for those of mixed culture. You talk about how the character imagines “how differently he will evolve compared to his familial roots.” But he doesn’t have to turn out drastically different from his relatives. Roots stretch in multiple directions. They consist of their own branches. This shows that your roots don’t have to exist in one state or place. They can reach many different aspects of yourself, allowing you to become a multiple dimensional person. You’re able to dig into multiple characteristics.
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