Speaking (on page 318 #259)
Imagery and Diction
In Speaking, by Simon F. Ortiz, the natural and idealistic imagery creates a scene depicting innocence, growth, and spiritual connection/awareness. The nature imagery includes trees, ants, cicadas, crickets, and bubbles. Nature is represented as beautiful, innocent, and spiritually wise. The narrator's infant son is characterized in the same way as nature. The infant is also small like the insects are and their spiritual power is understated. The infant can speak to nature although the narrator has lost the ability to speak the language. The nature imagery also contributes to natural relationship and life cycle of these characters. Children grow and also forget the language and become fathers themselves, a cycle that has proceeded for millions of years prior. The proud and simple diction also contributes to the meaning of the poem as a whole. The narrator is not surprised by what is happening, but it is almost magical to him and this is reflected in his diction of awe.This is a profound experience and it is also understated with plain and simple diction; which, accentuates the theme of nature as being simple yet powerful. The diction is also proud. The narrator goes from, "This is he, my son. This boy is looking at you. I am speaking for him." to "They listen to this boy speaking for me." In the cycle of life, the son will one day be able to speak for his parent and it is part of nature.
Personal Interpretation
I interpreted Speaking as nature speaks a different, more spiritual language. We, as infants, are simple and spiritually connected as nature is. Therefore, we understand each other. However, as we grow older, we make life more complex in our society and we forget about our spirituality and forget to speak the language. The narrator clearly understands how profound the experience is because he recounts it with a tone of awe and a sense of pride in his son. It is natural for a fathers son to grow up and take care of him. Growing up is something that has happened for millions of years. The awe and magic is the sight of how we fit into this world.
Desert Places (on page 289 #224)
Imagery and Tone
The imagery in Desert Places contributes greatly to the meaning of the poem as a whole. The imagery includes snow falling fast in the night, a field with weeds and stubble poking through a layer of snow, animals in their lairs, desert places, and "...empty spaces between stars-on stars where no human race is." The imagery of snow falling fast in the night is representative of death that is coming soon for the narrator. White represents cleansing or purifying. The weeds poking through the covering snow represents the unfinished conflicts in the narrator's life or the sins that he or she have committed and can still see the effects of it. The snow has covered the rest of the events in their life; however, some of the occurrences have grown above the rest and are so much more significant that they are still visible. The imagery is monotone, peaceful, and safe. This contributes to the meaning of the poem. Deserts are monotone, unchanging, and filled with the unknowns. The space between stars is empty and therefore black. The blackness is filled with the unknown and this adds to the tone of the poem as well. The tone of this poem is flat, plain, unvarnished, and apathetic. The tone is established with lines such as, "with no expression, nothing to express", "loneliness includes me unaware", "They cannot scare me", and "I am too absent-spirited to count." The narrator has heard much of what people say about death; yet, he knows that they have not died before and they have inaccurately depicted the events. People are always afraid of the unknown (the space between stars) and the narrator states that the star that he is heading too has never been inhabited by the human race. The feels comfortable with death which is described as he is much nearer to home than they are.
Personal Interpretation
I interpreted Desert Places as a journey through the unknown, and one having their own experience with the after life. The narrator's tone is unwaveringly non emotional and he or she negates all preconceived connotations with death. The imagery says that this time is eternal, safe, and purifying. People must experience these travels for themselves and the narrator speaks of his experiences.
