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Jack Park
Mr. Damaso
Honors English II, Period 3
1 May 2012
Accepting the Flaws
On January 20, 2009, Barack Obama was sworn in as the first president of the United
States. After centuries of racial prejudice and hatred, Barack Obama, among other figures like
Marin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks, stands as a symbol of the progress that the United States
has made. But without racism and segregation, the courageous acts that these, and a great many
other people, have made could never be. People fight and struggle with this concept of accepting
both the fault and the beauty in life. This search for closure permeates all levels of our society. In
art, Michael Jackson in his song Man in the Mirror, decides that one must accept their flaws by
looking “in the mirror” and act to make a positive change. Similarly, the concept of Realism in
the visual arts finds the beauty and grace in depicting the world for what it is, with all of its
imperfection and asymmetry. However, this idea is not confined to only the visual or musical
arts. It also extends into the vast field of the literary arts.
One group of literary artists in specific, poets, seek find a solution to accepting life.
While several poets scratch the surface of this question, Linda Pastan cuts through the outer
membrane of simple platitudes to find a deeper meaning through her poetry. Linda Pastan is an
American poet who is famous for her heavy use of symbolism. Born in 1932, she currently lives
in Potomac, Maryland. She has often been considered for the national poet laureate of America,
and has served as the poet laureate of Maryland. Her poems are often considered to be both deep
and meaningful through her extensive use of imagery. While Linda Pastan has written many
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wonderful poems, her poems Grudnow, I am Learning to Abandon the World, and, To a
Daughter Leaving Home most directly seek the answer to the meaning of life. These three poems
share a theme of accepting both the good and the bad in life.
While one is tempted to dive directly into the deep imagery and precise diction of Linda
Pastan’s poems, it is equally important to observe the author herself. She was born in New York
City in the year of 1932, and she still lives to this day (Linda Pastan). Mrs. Pastan graduated
from Radcliffe College in Cambridge, Massachusetts with a B.A. degree. She would go on to
graduate from Simmons College in Boston with an M.L.S. degree. Finally, she graduated from
Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts with a M.A degree (Linda Pastan). Linda Pastan
would marry Ira Pastan and become a housewife which made her very unhappy (Linda Pastan).
Her husband, noticing her unhappiness, encouraged her to return to poetry. This unhappiness
shaped some of Linda Pastan’s poetry (Linda Pastan).
Linda Pastan’s interesting and unique life mirrors her interesting and unique style.
Considered a master of imagery, Mrs. Pastan ignores the traditions of both meter and rhythm.
This leads her to write almost entirely in free verse, a form that is not confined by meter, rhythm,
rhyme scheme, or any other constraints, save for the ones the poet chooses for him or herself. In
order to compensate for her seeming lack of order, Pastan makes use of very specific diction,
pursuing her subject with a needle-thin precision (Franklin). She uses imagery to examine the
difficult themes of morality, love, the inevitability of death, and the meaning of life. One of the
greatest influences to Pastan’s poetry was the interruption of her literary career when she
assumed the role of housewife (Franklin). Pastan defends her lifestyle as a housewife, saying that
a housewife experiences both great joy and great sacrifice. The historical era and events that
raged about Linda Pastan’s head as she wrote also played a large influence on her poetry.
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Linda Pastan lived through multiple periods of great turmoil as well as growth. She was
born in the early 20th century, just before the rise of industrialism and the dawn of globalization.
She also lived through WWII and saw the rise of domesticity. Perhaps one of the most prominent
of these is World War II. Linda Pastan is Jewish and the anti-Semitic Nazi movement had a large
impact on her poetry. During the Nazi regime, the German people wanted legal discrimination
and action taken against the Jewish people (Hartman). Rather than shying away, Linda Pastan
accepts the terrible atrocities of the Nazi regime and courageously expresses the fear it caused in
her poetry. Not many poets, or people for that matter, are comfortable expressing their fears for
the world to see. Another important historical event that added context was the decline of the
classic humanitarian education. People had lost sight of the value of humanities and the arts.
They did not realize that true humanities promote many positive values, including integrity and
honesty. They help us to become less and less like animals, and more civilized (Hintz). Pastan
realized the need for the humanities to re-inspire people and is one of the reasons that her poems
are so meaningful.
While Linda Pastan’s body of work expresses themes of morality, love, the inevitability
of death, and the meaning of life, the poems “Grudnow”, “I am Learning to Abandon the
World”, and “To a Daughter Leaving Home” specifically deal with accepting the beauty in the
flawed nature of life. These poems express an acceptance of hardship, of loss, and of change.
Speaking generally, critics say that the poem Grudnow is about a grandfather and his description
of his hometown, Grudnow, before immigrating through the eyes of his granddaughter as well as
her idea of what life in Grudnow would be like for her (Constantakis 72). Likewise, the poem, I
am Learning to Abandon the World is about the slow and inevitable approach of death, and
accepting this fact. (Overview). Finally, the poem To a Child Leaving Home is about a child’s
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future adulthood and departure from the mother’s life (Greenbaum). These are scholars and
critics the latter of whom are attempting to produce a credible article that can be used as a non-
biased source for research. The former are also trying to make credible articles, but they are
slightly biased by personal preference.
While the general ideas within the poems are great, the deeper ideas unearthed by
analysis are even better. For example, Linda Pastan’s poem "Grudnow", is about accepting the
hardships of life while also cherishing the joy in it. Constantakis believes the poem is about how
acknowledging both the painful and the pleasant moments of the past are equally important to
remembering it (Constantakis 76). The critic goes on to observe that one cannot truly recall a
memory without accepting all facets of it. If one only chooses to remember the good times and
ignore the hardships, then one warps and twists the past, making it less than it was before.
Therefore, one must accept the entirety of their past, both the ease and the struggles, in order to
respect its memory and pay it homage. In the text itself, the speaker recalls her grandfather
saying “He left… because there was nothing there” (Grudnow Lines 8-9). This excerpt from the
poem expresses the hardship of Grudnow, prompting her grandfather to leave and immigrate to
America. However, it is important to note that he still recalls the hardships endured there. Later,
the poem depicts the people as “standing against a landscape emptied of crops and trees, scraped
raw by winter” (Grudnow Lines 12-15). This also expresses the hardships in Grudnow. It
emphasizes the burden of winter. Finally, the speaker recalls that her grandfather “always sipped
his tea through a cube of sugar clenched in his teeth, the way he sipped his life here, noisily,
through all he remembered that might have been sweet in Grudnow” (Grudnow Lines 31-36).
While his grandfather did recount the difficulties and hardship of Grudnow, symbolized by the
bitter tea, he also remembered the joy and happiness that may have been in Grudnow,
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symbolized by the sugar cube. While this poem discusses accepting the hardships in life, the next
emphasizes accepting loss in life.
The poem “I am Learning to Abandon the World” outlines the acceptance of loss
throughout the course of life. One critic says that one of Pastan’s themes is that life is able to
temporarily defeat death and it is too good to give up (Overview). There is too much joy in life to
surrender each time one encounter the loss that death symbolizes; therefore, one must accept it.
In the poem, the speaker notes how “the world has taken my father, my friends” (Lines 6-7
Abandon). This implies how her friends and father have either died or are no longer on friendly
terms. The idea of losing one’s friends and family also symbolizes the loss that one experiences
through the course of life. Further into the poem, “And every night I give my body up limb by
limb, working upwards across bone, towards the heart” (Lines 10-12 Abandon). This excerpt
communicates the desolation felt in the face of inevitable death, and ultimately, more loss. The
speaker knows that death is inevitable and acquiesces to it. However, at the end of the poem, the
speaker says that “I [the speaker] take my body back the sun lays its warm muzzle on my lap as
if to make amends” (Lines 19-21). The speaker accepts loss and the inevitability of death and
decides to continue to live her life. Similar to accepting life, the next poem is about accepting
unwanted change in life.
The poem To a Daughter Leaving Home expresses a need to accept the unwanted and
unforeseen changes in life. Greenbaum, a critic, says that the poem is about a child’s future
adulthood and departure from the mother’s life (Greenbaum). The mother in the poem has yet to
let go of her child and she does not desire the change in her lifestyle or in her child’s lifestyle.
Set in the pretense of a bicycle lesson, when the daughter pulls away from the speaker, she talks
about “my [the speaker] own mouth rounding in surprise when you pulled ahead down the
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curved path of the park” (Lines 7-10 Daughter). This excerpt shows the unexpected nature of the
change. The mother was expecting to continue teaching her child about riding bikes and how to
live life. After the daughter pulled away, the mother noted that “you [the daughter] grew smaller,
more breakable with distance” (Lines 15-17 Daughter). Mrs. Pastan describes the great amount
of fear that the speaker felt with the change. She does not desire to see her daughter hurt and
wants to protect her child. The mother never wants the bike lesson, being a metaphor for learning
about life, to end. The final line of the poem consists of one word, “Goodbye” (Line 24
Daughter). This emphasizes the acceptance of the mother. While this was part of a larger
sentence comparing her daughter’s hair to a handkerchief waving goodbye, the only reason for
the line break was to emphasize the closure that the poet wanted to bring. The mother accepts the
change that her daughter is undergoing, however unwanted or unexpected.
The messages about accepting the flaws in life that Pastan communicates are similarly
expressed in modern works of art. Dictionary.com defines artwork as “the production of artistic
or craft objects.” One group of artworks in specific, Project Err, deals directly with the idea of
greatness in flaws. Project Err prompted the laborers of mass production facilities to produce an
artistically flawed unit. The man who was the impetus for the project, Jeremy Hutchison, is
rather obscure, only claiming to be based out of London. It is apparent however, that he is still
alive today, as he has a Twitter account. Jeremy Hutchison gathered the artworks during the year
of 201 requesting flawed products to be used in an artistic function. The Project Err includes
things ranging from a backwards shovel, a toothless comb, and a mangled chair. While there is a
bit of humor or a satirical aura about the artworks, there is a far deeper message being
communicated by them.
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The whole of Project Err is based around the idea that there is still artistry and beauty in
the flawed objects in life. However, Jeremy Hutchison is no one-trick pony. Jeremy Hutchison’s
other works seems to be designed to make people think. His art varies in style and doesn’t even
seem to fall into a single specific style. Project Err is an outcry for individualism in a world
where the goal is to be identical. Almost all of the works of Jeremy Hutchison praise the beauty
of a flawed work. He takes the mistakes made by workers and raises them up on a pedestal,
praising their uniqueness. Like Linda Pastan, Jeremy Hutchison and Linda Pastan both note the
imperfections of the world. Similarly to Linda Pastan, Jeremy Hutchison also recognizes that
there is good in the world as well through the original design of the item. In the end, Jeremy
Hutchison and Linda Pastan both decide that life is better with both the good and the bad
experiences.
Insert Book option Paragraph here.
The literary arts, the visual arts, and above all poetry, have recognized the need for a
greater depth in education and within the arts. All of these different mediums have found the
same message they want to express; that life is unlivable without the pain and sorrow or the
happiness and joy. While in the course of history, man has witnessed some terrible things, but he
has accepted these and decided to make a change for the better. Similarly, people today need to
realize that there is equal value in the good and the bad in life. People struggle to accept this fact,
and they live much poorer lives because of it. It can be assumed that Linda Pastan’s work will be
seminal, inspiring people to not only live better lives, but also to produce better art and literature.
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Appendix A
Grudnow, Linda Pastan (1986)
When he spoke of where he came from,
my grandfather could have been
clearing his throat
of that name, that town
sometimes Poland, sometimes Russia. 5
the borders pencilled in
with a hand as shaky as his.
He left, I heard him say,
because there was nothing there.
I understood what he meant 10
when I saw the photograph
of his people standing
against a landscape emptied
of crops and trees, scraped raw
by winter. Everything 15
was in sepia, as if the brown earth
had stained the faces,
stained even the air.
I would have died there, I think
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in childhood maybe 20
of some fever,
my face pressed for warmth
against a cow with flanks
like those of the great aunts
in the picture. Or later 25
I would have died of history
like the others, who dug
their stubborn heels into that earth,
heels as hard as the heels
of the bread my grandfather tore 30
from the loaf at supper. He always
sipped his tea through a cube of sugar
clenched in his teeth, the way
he sipped his life here, noisily,
through all he remembered 35
that might have been sweet in Grudnow.
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Appendix B
I Am Learning To Abandon the World, Linda Pastan (1981)
I am learning to abandon the world
before it can abandon me.
Already I have given up the moon
and snow, closing my shades
against the claims of white. 5
And the world has taken
my father, my friends.
I have given up melodic lines of hills,
moving to a flat, tuneless landscape.
And every night I give my body up 10
limb by limb, working upwards
across bone, towards the heart.
But morning comes with small
reprieves of coffee and birdsong.
A tree outside the window 15
which was simply shadow moments ago
takes back its branches twig
by leafy twig.
And as I take my body back
the sun lays its warm muzzle on my lap 20
as if to make amends.
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Appendix C
To A Daughter Leaving Home, Linda Pastan (1988)
When I taught you
at eight to ride
a bicycle, loping along
beside you
as you wobbled away
on two round wheels,
my own mouth rounding
in surprise when you pulled
ahead down the curved
path of the park,
I kept waiting
for the thud
of your crash as I
sprinted to catch up,
while you grew
smaller, more breakable
with distance,
pumping, pumping
for your life, screaming
with laughter,
the hair flapping
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behind you like a
handkerchief waving
goodbye.
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Appendix D
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Appendix E
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Appendix F
Project Err, Jeremy Hutchison 2011
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Appendix G
The Lion King, Roger Allers, Rob Minkoff (1994)
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The Lion King. Dir. Rob Minkoff, Roger Allers. Perf. James Earl Jones, Jeremy Irons, Jonathan
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