Yu-jou Lee (Lowh) 1108

Everyday

To begin, the family issues was the biggest problem that exists in every family for a long

time. These issues lead to the others problem that can relate to a psychology issue too. Even-

though not every family was in this kind of situation. Sharon Olds was one of the children that

have to face with the family troubles everyday. Therefore, she interested to write a poem when

she grew up because it can share her life story with others. Furthermore, all of her poems were

successful. The reasons why the result come out in the good ways are because the poems are

emotional and reach reader's heart. This can prove by the reader that have a same feeling as the

narrator. For the motivation of the poem was to make the reader understand the poem easily and

that why Sharon decided to use her own feeling from her own experiences to be in her work.

Along with the words that she said in the interview I think that my work is easy to understand

because I am not a thinker but its all about ordinary thingsfeeling about things, about people.

Im not an intellectual. Im not an abstract thinker. And Im interested in ordinary life. (Olds,

2012). Most of the poem that she expressed out was using the symbolism because it can reveal

the ideas that the words cant do. And the story that Sharon like to share was about the situation

that happen to her own real life and that are Still Life in Landscape and The Space Heater.

Still Life in Landscape is the poem that she writes to describe what she face on in her

childhood life. Sharon uses a lot of symbol to defined what happen while her alcoholic father

abuses her mother. One of the symbol that she try to define the situation that happens while her

father harms her mother is the car accident. According to the first part of the poem There were

pieces of cars and/half car strewn (Olds, 2004). This was trying to describe what is going on

when everything in the house has been damaged by her father and the stuff gone everywhere in
 Yu-jou Lee (Lowh) 1108

the house. And this happened many times by looking at her father character. The alcoholic

personal is not a easy thing to remove from people personality. Based on My father was driving

not sober. For changing this personal have to take a time but by reading this part it tell us that

her father doesnt even want to change his personal at all. This also makes us know that her

father doesnt feel any shame or care what he act on his wife and his daughter. This problem not

just happens in Sharon family but almost happen in every family. However, it depends on family

members personality. Some of the family might dont have to face on with this kind of problem

at all.

In Still Life in Landscape Sharon also used a symbol to defined her mother and she

selects the word dead woman as her mother. Because at that time, all of the women are under the

man control. Mentioned in the poem Woman was lying on the highway, on her back,/ with her

head curled back and tucked under her shoulders My mother grabbed my head and turned it/

and clamped it into her chest (Olds, 2004). This mean even her mother is in dangerous as if she

will die soon. Still she decided to do what she want to do as a mother and it mean to protect her

own child from any dangerous by using herself to be a shelter. This all happens in her childhood

life. Because of her age at that time plus she is a little girl so she cannot protect or help her

mother from her father at all. Then when she grow up she decided to share this story out for

others people to know that this problem still exists in every class of the society.

The Space Heater is the poem that Sharon writes about the death of the people who

close to her. This person in the poem must be very important and close to her because she

decided to use the word father to symbol as this person. Sharon also used a word the heater to

describe how she feel and in the other hand it also mean as the oxygen that makes the person
 Yu-jou Lee (Lowh) 1108

who survives from death. She described I wanted the doctor to turn it off/ but I couldn't seem to

ask (Leigh M., 2001). She felt that it was a hard duty to end someone life even it was what she

desire to because if this continue on the result will end up in the same way and that mean no one

will be happy. Feeling of the person who stays are the only thing that will keep going on. The

poem tries to describe out the power of heat,/ the pleasure of power. The heat is the things that

come out through the heater. And it giving the pleasure of power. This mean that the power of

heat is the things that keep the life to continue on. If there is no this power then the life of the

person in the poem will have to be shorter than now. Our life doesn't have any sigh for telling us

which day that we will be passed away. Therefore, people should cherish every moment in their

life because every moment is precious.

In conclusion, Sharon is the one of the poets who like to write a poem that is based on her

own real experiences this make her poem become more impressive. The poem expressed a lot of

feeling like sadness and confusedness for reach into the reader's heart. Still Life in Landscape

and The Space Heater were one of the cases that reader can feel what the poet want to tell

them. Even in the poem have a lot of symbols, but it can show the main idea through of it. In

both of the poem, she was trying to talk about life and death that happen in everydays society

for example people passed away and argued in their family. Because of the idea that she shared

are common things to the society so it was easy to understand and impactful to the people in the

society. Therefore, her poem can reveal the idea that other poets cant cause it rely on each

person experience.
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Reference

Sharon O. (2004). Strike Sparks: Selected Poems 1980-2002. New York, NY. Alfred A. Knopf.

Leigh M. (Ed.). (2001). The New Yorker. New York, NY. The New Yorker.

Sharon O. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poets/

detail/sharon-olds#poet