Daddy
Pleats of frozen tundra encompass the the barren land. The tint of crimson smirches the odious, earthen decay. Monotonous circulation of sentry survey the domain. Thump. Thump. Thump. Is it the trudge of the covetous mercenary or rather the palpitation of a blackened heart? As the stream of consciousness emanates amidst the movement of locution, a transference of setting becomes apparent. Auschwitz befalls the nameless town of Polish decent. The rivulet of German tongue intertwines within the torrent a young girls adolescence. As Sylvia Plath capitulates the obligatory reverence of her overbearing father within her poem “Daddy,” a sense of retribution is bestowed upon the once daunted child through literary deliverance. Plath necessitates the emancipation from within the brooding womb of her father’s callous constraint using metaphors, diction, negative capability, and an ever flowing stream of consciousness throughout the pith of a single poetic meter in saying “if I’ve killed one man, I’ve killed two- the vampire who said he was you and drank my blood for a year, seven years, if you want to know. Daddy, you can lie back now. There’s a stake in your fat black heart and the villagers never liked you. They are dancing and stamping on you. They always knew it was you. Daddy, daddy, you bastard, I’m through”(Plath3055).
The immensity of the inhumane nature of man holds vast significance as humanity encompasses both darkness and warmth. The influence of brutality imposed upon a credulous daughter as she ascends into womanhood can be beheld through the metaphoric nature of Sylvia Plath’s interpretative stanza. Satirically, Plath delineates the inherent disposition of her father in saying “the vampire who said he was you and drank my blood for a year”(Plath3055). Through a metaphoric state, Plath equates her father to that of a blood sucking vampire. She does so to relate the noxious influence her father held within her life. He forced upon her values in which womanhood became on obligation. In using metaphors, Plath brings forth the reality of her oppressive father in such a way that it becomes tangible. Plath affirms her sentiment in sayings “there’s a stake in your fat black heart and the villagers never liked you”(Plath3055). Plath’s father becomes gluttonous amid the power of man. The fat black heart also characterizes the moonless sky in which her father’s soul wanders perpetually. Never will he see the light of day, the strength of womanhood, nor the fortitude of his own kin. It his through the metaphoric nature of Plath that her portrayal of a crude patriarch manifest into a discernible man.
The exaggerated, poetic diction Plath entails within her poem “Daddy” brings forth a raw portrayal of the lasting effects her father’s tyranny held within her life. Plath illuminates the monstrous nature of her father and his everlasting effects in saying “if I’ve killed one man, I’ve killed two- the vampire who said he was you”(Plath3055). Through diction, Plath compiles her necessity through meaningful, elemental writing to subdue the immortality of her father’s invective cruelty. She composes her work in such a way as to concentrate her hostility on effects of her father’s provoking fallacy involving the bondage of the female psyche. Plath concludes in saying “Daddy, daddy, you bastard, I’m through”(Plath3055). The use of profanity emanates the abhorrence felt for her father. The explicit diction, too, depicts the respect no longer held for her father. There was a time in which he was respected out of fear, but now she is liberated. Through diction, Plath renders herself free from under the oppressive hand of her father.
The ambiguous mind also finds room for doubt. Throughout the poem “Daddy,” Plath depicts the malice ways of her father, yet through all her tales of deceit, she entails the continuation and contemplation of her fathers wrong doings. It is as if Plath is unable to separate herself from ensnarement of her father’s psychological restraints. Negative capability becomes entangled amongst Plath’s liberation. The stanza concludes in saying “Daddy, daddy, you bastard, I’m through”(Plath3055). Plath declares herself independent from the wrath of her father, yet there is still a question as to if she withholds a piece of his reign within. It is uncertain as to how Plath will continue. Can she uncouple the ravenous lies feasting upon her weakened vitality? The irresolution within Plath’s work adds a sense of Romanticism as it explores further into humanity. Her inability to cease all thoughts of her father result in the questioning of her ability to move forward successfully in life. Plath has overcome much oppression in her lifetime, but will she ever be capable of relieving herself of her father’s hatred in such a way that it no longer impacts her state of being? The hesitancy and inability of Plath to diminish her father’s lasting effects delineates negative capability. What is to become of Sylvia Plath?
The mind continuously revels in the inquisition of the world. Seldom are the thoughts made tangible. It is when the thoughts begin to manifest beyond the mind, that humanity feels the anguish of fellow man. Plath depicts a sense of stream of consciousness within her work to create a palpable visualization of her father’s cruelty. As Plath succumbs to the hatred within, she declares her father in a vampiric state in saying “the villagers never liked you. They are dancing and stamping on you. They always knew it was you”(Plath3055). The thought uncoils itself from deep within. The words flow steadily from the cortex through the nerve endings onto paper. Her thought is raw. It is matter of fact. It is with Plath’s transcendence that her emotions come to life. Her thought is tangible. Her words powerful. The realization of Plath’s stream of consciousness creates a sense of realism to her story. She once lived and felt. Her words became a statement; a statement of freedom. With her cry, a single woman was heard. With her voice, she set the oppressed free. Unbeknownst to Plath, a nation was liberated.
With a dream that one day woman will no longer be woman, but yet humans, the need for equality to prevail above sexism began. Fathers began ascertaining the necessity to teach their daughters to become formidable. Ascension into womanhood became a blessing, not a curse. Syliva Plath laid the stones for the pathway to justice. With her works, she engaged a war in favor of woman’s rights. “Daddy” began a movement. Plath depicted the oppression of woman through the malevolent misdoings of her own father. From a young age Plath endured the persistence of her father’s psychological disparagement. Her father depicted femininity as an impairment. It was through turmoil that Plath rose. Although, her father passed at a young age, his reign become forever entrapped amidst her cognition. It is though Plath’s depiction of metaphors, diction, negative capability and stream of consciousness that she was able to bestow her views on the oppression of woman. The writings of Plath precluded the continuation man’s reign.
