jacquelinej’s Blog

  I’ve noticed throughout my exploration of the poems that many of the people speak as if they’re still alive.  Though it’s obvious they’re talking beneath their graves, they have a brilliant way of speaking as if they’re still living.  However, one poem confusedme.  As I comprehended it, Amelia is speaking as if she’s two people.  While most of the characters talk to their former lovers, I’m not sure who Amelia is talking to.  I feel as if her soul and her overall existance in Spoon River have separated.  She speaks of a person who was admired by the town.  At this point in the poem Daisy popped into my mind.  But, further into the poem, she says phrases such as “you have succeeded and I have failed-”.  Perhaps I’m missing something, but it seemed as if this poem relates to many of the other novels we’ve read. 

           Janie and Daisy are two characters who I relate Amelia to.  If my comprehension is right, Amelia was seen as successful because she married a wealthy man and led a good life.  However, speaking from a spiritual point, Amelia states that she’s failed. Perhaps she’s let society cover her true identity, just like Janie and Daisy. 

  As I stated in my last post, mystery seems to fill the town of Spoon River.  While being introduced to numerouscharacters, it’s hard to keep tract of all of their stories, love lives, and secrets.  It’s also clear that many characters prefer to show rather than tell.  This is interesting because within a lot of the poems, it seems as if the characters are afraid to be blatant.  Mrs. Sibley’spoem is an example of a character who seems to seclude herself.  As her husband explains, she has committed adultery, which gives her a reason to seclude herself.  However, within her poem, she has a tasteful way of making herself seem less evil then she’s portrayed by her husband.  She somehow expresses her independence and it’s clear that her and her husband were not very compatible.  At the end of her poem she says ” My secret: Under a mound that you shall  never find”.  For some reason, I feel as if she’s trying to tease us as readers.  Her character is appealing to me and although she’s committed adultery, she still seems very confident in herself.

  Though the series of poems I’ve been reading have failed in catching my attention, there are a few that make me wonder.  After seeing the slide show of Spoon River, it’s clear that the town is full of mystery and craziness.  Poem after poem, it’s clear that many of the characters are distraught.  A lady though, that caught my attention most so far is Nancy Knapp.  Because my essay is focused on women in American Literature, I’ve decided to focus my blogs on poems about women in the town.  She’s a lady who was given a bitter life.  When it seemed as if life had failed her, she did not give up…yet she decided to get even.  Why though, did she kill her husband?  Though I’ve demonstrated the growth of women in American literature as well as their growth in history, I’m not sure I’ll be able to support Nancy’s actions.