Poetry reaction #1: If I Had Known by Mary Carolyn Davies

 

Mary Carolyn Davies was an American poet, playwright, songwriter, and editor. She wrote her poem If I Had Known around 1920s-30s. Sadly not much is known about Davies, there isn't even records of her death after she moved to New York in 1930s at about 40 years old. I can tell though that Davies was a very kind hearted person and she cared about the people that she was close to, from what her poem is about. The poem makes me believe that she lost someone that was close to her, to suicide. Although we can not assume that she is the narrator I believe the only way anyone would be able to write a poem with such a powerful message is if they have gone through it themselves.

The narrator of the poem shows how much he or she wished they had acknowledged that a friend was feeling down, he/she wanted to be able to help. “If I had known what thoughts despairing drew you;” The friend probably took their own life because they didn't see any other way out, or anyone to help them, like most cases of suicide. The narrator is regretting not seeing the signs that showed of depression from their friend.  He or she continues to repeat “If I had known”, to show the reader that they truly would've helped the person in need. The speaker feels remorseful that he/she wasn’t able to show the friend kindness and be gentle with them.  The narrator would have tried to bring “more warmth into this place” If they had only known.

A crucial moment in the poem is when the speaker asks “(Why do we never try to understand?)” This is directed towards us but he/she is also asking themselves this. I could imagine that the speaker is mad at society and himself/herself for not trying to help more people with depression. If so many people take their lives maybe there is something wrong with society, and not them? The human race is so full of themselves, they only cares about themselves. They are so concerned with themselves and their own problems that they don't see people suffering around them. We should live in a better world where it’s comfortable for everyone, and “your stay more pleasant in the land.”

This poem is important because of the ideas about trying to help people in need of help with depression. We’ve all gone through depression at some point in our lives, we thought everything was too hard and that no one was there to help, or that it won't get better. That's why this poem really struck me. Especially this time of the year, when I’m still trying to get used to my classes, and I don't see how anything is going to get  any better. I have to worry about so many things and stress piles on and sometimes I feel like the only way to stop it is if I wasn’t on the planet anymore. Then I realize how much I actually have, like my friends and family, and I remember that I wouldn't be able to leave them. As soon as all this college stress is over I’ll be able to relax a little(at least until AP tests.)

Reaction to Franny and Zooey by J.D Salinger

 

Franny and Zooey is a book that follows two child stars who were once panelist on the ‘Wise Child’ a radio show, with their other 5 siblings. With further research I found that the book is an adaption of an article published in the New Yorker magazine. The articles usually followed the Glass Family. In this case it follows Franny and Zooey Glass the two youngest of the Glass family. There are two sections in the book, Franny and Zooey. At first the two sections don't seem connected at all, I was surprised to find that in the second section it mentions that Franny is Zooeys younger sister.

I was very surprised when the book mentions Franny as the youngest sibling in the second section, I had no clue that the two protagonist would be related. The two sections did not  seem connected at first, because of how the author chooses to write them differently. It seems that it is written by two different people, in the first section it is written in third person by a speaker outside of the text, but in the second section, it states that the speaker is Zooeys ‘eldest living brother’ Buddy. In the first section Franny doesn’t mention siblings once, I assumed later on it was because she thought they had too much ego(since they were on the Wise Child), which she despises in most people.

Ego becomes a very big theme in the book, it’s mentioned almost every other page especially in the second section. Franny brings up that one of her professors are completely egoistic, to her older brother Zooey. Zooey begins to lecture her on ego, he tries to show that she can't judge people on it. He doesn't want her to be filled with hatred. He tries to tell her that he understands where shes coming from, because there are people that can be annoying and think they're always right, like his own bosses but that would be no reason to hate someone, they aren’t bad people. I believe the only reason Franny  believes they have ego is because shes the one that thinks shes always right. She believes she knows everything from what she has learned her whole life of 20 years.

             I would also like to point out something that caught my eyes, a few oxymorons placed about the text. As a child my aunt got a book from the store on all these ‘adult’ words and the first one she ever taught me, and only one that I remember was oxymoron.  Although I only noticed two, Salinger probably put more that I skimmed over by mistake. The first one I noticed was “an honest con man” It was funny to me, con men are anything but honest, thats how they make their living. The second oxymoron I saw was “unsentimental mementos.” This also rolls off the tongue nicely.  A memento is defined as an object kept as a reminder or souvenir of a person or event, if it was unsentimental then it wouldn't be worth keeping.

               I know from reading this book, I will be picking up Catcher in the Rye for my next reaction paper. J.D Salinger is a fabulous writer. The way he shaped his words really intrigued me. At times there were words I didn't understand because of the time difference but for the most part I understood it. The conversations were great, they sounded like actual conversations that go on between two people in our everyday life. The one thing I didn't love about this book was that it only had two chapters and wasn’t separated into more because then I never put the book down.