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Comment 6 of 16, added on May 25th, 2005 at 10:05 PM.
Who said the speaker of this poem is female?
People jump to conclusions about poems based on what they think they know about the gender and interests of the poet.
They're not always the same. Try reading the poem with a male speaker, and you will see that there is something that transcends gender-struggles being said here.
Carly from United States
Comment 5 of 16, added on May 4th, 2005 at 7:57 AM.
A further thought would be that the female voice of the poem is saying something that is impossible - was taken the day after i drowned. Women could be seen to be making outrageous comments that cannot be true. The society is "drowning" her because what she is saying is so surreal.
Naomi from United Kingdom
Comment 4 of 16, added on April 24th, 2005 at 4:14 PM.
This poem seems to show the woman's struggle to be equal to a man. The person seems so low as if only needed to sidewardly mention that they drowned in this lake. She seems to be oppressed by men(the lake) and only able to varely scale and not even size.
Lindsay from United States
Comment 3 of 16, added on March 15th, 2005 at 3:04 PM.
Atwood criticizes men and society in her poem “This Is A Photograph Of Me” by saying women are pushed to side, have stereotypes put on them, and essentially drowned. The picture looks smeared and blurry, as was women’s role in society, but as one studies the photograph more carefully, you see a branch in the upper left hand corner, and on the right, “halfway up/what ought to be a gentle/slope” (10-12) is a house. The hill “ought to” be gentle, but that does not mean it is gentle. Females “ought to” be gentle, but are we always? The branch in the left (liberal) hand corner is the movement for gender equality.
In the center of the picture but in the background is a lake. The photograph was taken the day after the speaker drowned in this lake. She can be seen “just under the surface” (18) if you look hard. The water, or society and men, distorts her: it is almost impossible to tell her size. Yet it can be seen if studied closely.
The woman’s death in this poem is set in parenthesis, in an aside, as if it is not worthy of being part of the poem. Men and society’s expectations and whims pushed the speaker under the lake and drowned her. This poem may be a reflection upon the past, because this photograph was taken “some time ago” (1). Atwood wrote the poem in 1998, and it could be a memory of years past when she first felt oppressed by society.
Nicole from United States
Comment 2 of 16, added on March 9th, 2005 at 5:13 PM.
We talked about this poem in English class and we decided on that she was talking about birth not death! Because it may say drowning but the baby is being born. Well thats what we came up with!
Whitney from Canada
Comment 1 of 16, added on February 11th, 2005 at 4:38 PM.
does anyone know what the history or anything is of this poem? cause its just to close to an incident i know of.
Ahna from United States
This poem has been commented on more than 10 times. Click below to see the other comments.
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Copyright © 2003-2008 Gunnar Bengtsson, Poetry Connection. All Rights Reserved.
Who said the speaker of this poem is female?
People jump to conclusions about poems based on what they think they know about the gender and interests of the poet.
They're not always the same. Try reading the poem with a male speaker, and you will see that there is something that transcends gender-struggles being said here.
Carly from United States