The Surly One by Theodore Roethke

When true love broke

my heart in half

I took the whiskey from the shelf

and told my neighbors when to laugh

 

I keep a dog and bark myself

Ghosts cries out to ghosts

But who’s afraid of that

I fear those shadows most

that start from my own feet      

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 FEMINIST INTERPRETATION:  The poem describes a weak man who is saddened by a broken relationship.  He then chooses his friend to be a whiskey bottle, drinking until he turns to acting out of control.  He now fears who he has become.  Every single day millions of people from all over the world fall in and out of love.  That is a hard but common fact of life.  If everyone that had their heart broken took to  the bottle and  drowned their sorrows in alcohol, what a terrible situation that would be.  Because this poem was written about a man's problem and not a woman's problem, today’s society gives the reader the latitude to overlook the character's weaknesses and lack of strength.  If a woman would get drunk over a broken relationship and revert to telling off the neighbors and howling like a dog, how many people would find that acceptable?  She would immediately be judged irresponsible for neglecting her responsibilities.  This society must not and cannot tolerate applied double standards in reference to ethical behavior.  -RJR     

                                                                                       

The Reckoning by Theodore Roethke

All profits disappear: the gain                        Of ease, the hoarded, secret sum;                     And now grim digits of old pain             Return to litter up our home.                     

We hunt the cause of ruin, add,
Subtract, and put ourselves in pawn;
For all our scratching on the pad,
We cannot trace the error down.

What we are seeking is a fare
One way, a chance to be secure:
The lack that keeps us what we are,
The penny that usurps the poor.

 

A Historical Theory

The Historical Approach is when the writer is leading a life in a certain time in history and that events in his personal life and in the world affect the literature produced.  In this poem, Theodore is affected not only by his own depression, but also the Great Depression.  Roethke was 21 years old when the stock market crashed.  He was forced to leave Harvard University as a result of the tough economic times.  As I read through this poem I think about the Great Depression.  “All profits disappear: the gain of ease, the hoarded, secret sum” referring to the stock market crash of 1929.  Lines like, “We hunt the cause of ruin, add, subtract, and put ourselves in pawn”, and “we cannot trace the error down” tell us that people spent time looking for the cause of the depression and where the error occurred, not wanting to blame ourselves we always look for the reasons why something bad happens and try to point the finger at someone else.  Roethke says, “What we are seeking is a fare One way, a chance to be secure,” he is referring to security at a time when America had none.  The depression affected the entire country and all they needed was a bit of security and a bit of hope that things would get better.  The final two lines say, “ The lack that keeps us what we are, The penny that usurps the poor.” These lines are talking about America's lack of money and the penny that holds back the poor.  -MSM

 

Pickle Belt by Theodore Roethke

 

The fruit rolled by all day.

They prayed the cogs would creep;

They thought about Saturday pay,

And Sunday sleep.

 

Whatever he smelled was good:

The fruit and flesh smells mixed.

There beside him she stood,--

And he, perplexed;

 

He, in his shrunken britches,

Eyes rimmed with pickle dust,

Prickling with all the itches

Of sixteen-year-old lust.

 

 

A Marxist Theory 

 
The Marxist theory is a literature technique used to analyze pieces of writing.  Marxism incorporates the struggle between social classes, minorities and the working class.  From a Marxist point of view, Pickle Belt is a poem about lower class workers working hard in a pickling factory to support their family.  The second line “They prayed the cogs would creep,” shows how much they savored every moment fresh fruit went past them.  This suggests that they don’t take food or fresh produce for granted like most upper class individuals would.  The last two lines of stanza one supports the hard working lower class mentality; they looked forward to pay day and the one day they were able to relax.  A young teenage boy and girl were mentioned in the rest of the poem.  It was common for lower class children to work in factories rather than engage in education because the families rely on them for additional income. -CDB