Erik Molbe

Professor Tubbs

ENGL 1302-118

“Daddy” Annotations

Before reading the poem “Daddy” by Sylvia Plath, my expectations on the poem were

that it was going to be a family based poem, that it was going to describe certain characteristics

about their father figure. Also, I felt that the speaker within was going to be a female due to the

idea of it being very rare you hear a young male call their father “Daddy”, when it’s usually a

female using that name. After reading the poem, my first reactions were that I was a little

confused since the poem was kind of all over the place as it unfolded. In my idea, it seemed to be

that the connection between the speaker and “Daddy” wasn’t the best as there were ideas of

having to kill the father, describing him as a “Devil” of some sort, but also stating that the

speaker’s heart was broken. Another drawing that I took in from the text was that, “Daddy” had

something to do with the German Army, or being a Nazi since, there was a setting described on a

concentration camp and use of the words “Swastika” and “Jew”, where the speaker is strongly

affected by these actions their father has committed, since they’ve tried to kill themselves.

Lastly, I had some confusion of who the speaker really was, I'm strong on the idea that it is a

female but I’m not too sure if it is Sylvia Plath herself or not.

● Stanza 1 & 2: Through the first two stanzas, there is a feeling that the speaker’s life

wasn’t the best, due to “Daddy” where they were “poor”, but also the father dies before

the speaker had the chance to kill him, while describing him.

● Stanza 3 & 4: It seems to me that the speaker is describing a setting within these two

stanzas, describing the view of the waters but also stating the country Poland.
● Stanza 5 & 6: There is a feeling of fear within the stanzas, as the speaker seems to

demonstrate they’re afraid to talk to “Daddy” but it has something to do with the

Germans, that has me confused.

● Stanza 7 & 8: Simply the speaker feels that they may tend to be a Jew, by describing

certain attributes, but also stating their “Ancestress” might make them a Jew and there is

a description of Auschwitz where a concentration camp was held.

● Stanza 9 & 10: The speaker is describing how they fear “Daddy” due to the German

family and them being in the air force, but also shows physical force and mentions a

swastika giving a Nazi image.

● Stanza 11 & 12: There’s a representation of death in these stanzas but the speaker

describes a photo that they have of their father as a decent one, but that doesn’t change

the devil in them. The speaker has a broken heart and has also tried to kill themselves.

● Stanza 13 & 14: These stanzas were kind of confusing to me, but it seems to me that the

speaker is trying to build an image of some sort, and the speaker has come to realization.

● Stanza 15 & 16: The ending of the poem, it the hatred towards “Daddy” as there is good

imagery of his death, with no one liking him, finishing with the speaker calling him a

“Bastard” out of hatred I suppose.