American Literature Essay

The authors use symbolism to Illustrate their idea of desolation. In â€Å"A Noiseless Patient Spider†, Whitman uses a deserted spider to portray the soul as a hopeless being desperately searching for an anchor. While Dickinson uses a still body to portray the soul as elapses and unable connect with the outside world.In Whitman poem â€Å"A Noiseless Patient Spider†, the author uses a deserted spider to portray the desolation of the soul. In my opinion, the setting strictly illustrates an idea of deservedness and the feeling of loneliness. This is shown when it is said of the spider: â€Å"l mark's, where, on a little promontory, it stood, isolated;† (Whitman line 2). The spider is set on a high place overseeing it's vast surroundings yet Is unable to spot any Indication of life. This shows that the soul, much Like the spider, Is In a state of exaltation but still has a feeling of loneliness.Even though the spider Is on a ‘promontory' It still tries to reac h out to the vacant unknown In desperate hope of touching or even connecting with something. It's almost as if Whitman is saying that the soul, in comparison to the spider, longs for some type of acknowledgement. In Emily Dickinson poem â€Å"l heard a Fly buzz†, the poet uses a still body to portray the soul as helpless and unable to connect with the outside world. It becomes clear why Dickinson would choose to design the soul as in a helpless state because when you closely examine her era you can observe that women were not given much accreditation and merit.Her gender was looked at and even treated as helpless because women In her time and society were not for recognized for being Intelligent and making rational decisions. In the poem Dickinson Is faced with a lot of adversity but reports no Indication of retaliating. For example, she was unable to react when â€Å"There Interposed a Fly – † (Dickinson line 12) to Interfere In her observations. She was also h elpless when â€Å"l willed my Keepsakes – Signed away† (Dickinson line 121 even when her belongings where being distributed there was nothing she could do r say.One of the things that contributed to Dickinson helplessness is her inability to connect with the outside world. Dickinson herself lived a very secluded life. Poets. Org states that â€Å"Throughout her life, she seldom left her home and visitors were few. † So it becomes easy to see why it was so hard to relay her feelings and objections to the people that surrounded her deathbed in the poem. Conclusively, the venture of the soul can sometimes be a desolate pilgrimage. The two authors Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson both Illustrate the barren soul in heir consecutive poems â€Å"A Noiseless Patient Spider† and â€Å"l heard a Fly buzz†.The two poems present the soul as empty vessels awaiting to be connected to some type of delve existence. In Whitman poem, he uses a deserted spider to po rtray the desolation of the soul. Whitman uses a setting which illustrates an idea of to portray the soul as helpless and unable to connect with the outside world. She inputs a lot of her life situations into her character, such as her prohibited contribution to society due to her gender and her preferred removal from her community.