Para 2 - contrast Flashcards
Point
Plath effectively explore the suffering faced by the speaker as a result of her father through the use of contrast. The speaker feels as though her fathers death has lingered over her ever since it happened and this is preventing her from living a typical life free from suffering
Contrast
Throughout the poem Plath refers to the speaker as “white” whereas she refers to the speaker’s father as “black. The contrast between these two colours helps paint the speaker as a victim and her father as the oppressor. The metaphor “black shoe in which I have lived like a foot” helps paint the speakers father as the oppressor because the colour black has connotations of evil and violence which makes him seem like a villain. It also helps to develop the idea that the speaker has suffered as a result of him because it suggests that he had been ‘standing’ on her for her whole life, she has never had the opportunity to be free of him and the memories and experiences of pain and grief attached to him. Plath then further refers to the speaker as “poor and white” which directly contrasts to the dark colours associated with her father, meaning that it helps to paint her as the victim because the colour white has connotations of purity and innocence, suggesting that she couldn’t have done anything wrong and she is the one being taken advantage of.
