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Conjoined Essay

Maddy Marvin

Period 7

Conjoined Essay

In the poem “Conjoined,” Judith Minty uses different literary devices to talk about her views and opinions on marriage. Throughout the poem Minty uses literary devices like diction, analogy, and metaphors to convey her pessimistic sort of views towards marriage.

 The poet uses analogies to make his point. In the very first line, the onion is referred to as a monster. It is two onions only “joined by a transparent skin” (2). The skin is like the unification of marriage between the two onions. The deformity of the two onions “each half-round, then flat and deformed where it pressed and grew together” (3-4) puts a slight tilt on the joining. Where the two onions come into contact with each other they have warped and deformed into something uglier and less perfect. This transparent skin has changed the onion into one deformed unified onion. “Conjoined” is a troubling piece of writing that goes around in circles with definitions and analogies of a very unhappy union of two people.

In the second stanza of the poem Minty uses diction and metaphors to give further support to her argument. She starts out by giving one example of a physical thing that is conjoined that didn’t turn out well. She uses the analogy of a two-headed calf fighting to get milk from its mother. This is Minty talking about a troubled marriage where both sides are fighting against each other for what they want. The choice and use of diction in this line gives it a troubled tone as well. It says, “An accident, like the two-headed calf …”(Minty) Starting out the line stating that this two-headed calf is an accident really does give the impression that the calf is not meant to be, almost like the marriage she’s talking about is not meant to be. Past this example Minty talks about a set of Siamese twins saying, “Or like those other freaks, Chang and Eng, twins/ Joined at the chest by skin and muscle, doomed/ To live, even make love, together for sixty years.” (Minty) This example is an analogy just like the one about the calf. Minty is relating a marriage to the troubled situation of Siamese twins that must live together forever joined at the chest. Also, diction is again a very important part of these few lines because Minty uses derogatory terms like “freaks” to say that being a Siamese twin is a terrible thing to be, just as she believes some marriages are. Minty also uses the word “doomed” when she talks about how the twins will have to live together for the rest of their lives because of their condition. Using the words “freaks” and “doomed” here really brings out the pessimistic views that Minty has towards marriage.

 In the final stanza, Minty again uses powerful diction and metaphors to show us her views on marriage. In this final stanza Minty returns to the previous analogies and metaphors that she has talked about, the Siamese twins and the onion in the kitchen.  Minty opens up the stanza asking if you “can feel the skin that binds us (reference to the Siamese twins)/ Together as we move, heavy in this house?” (Minty) Minty has already used another important and powerful word here that makes us think about this situation in a negative way. The word Minty uses is “heavy” to describe the weight of us, or the marriage, as “we move in this house.” The word heavy in this context, suggests that it is uncomfortable and difficult to maneuver in the marriage. Minty then goes on to say that as a result of cutting the skin that binds the two together, one of the twins will be set free, but the other might die. This is another analogy that shows what Minty thinks about what might happen if you go about a divorce. From that line Minty thinks that in most cases of divorce, both sides do not end up fine. After this we get the last line of the poem where Minty says, “We cannot escape each other.” (Minty) This last line is an overall summary and conclusion of Minty’s final thoughts for her marriage. Minty feels that she cannot escape her marriage and that she is trapped in an uncomfortable relationship with her husband.

 Many poems about marriage are full of life and happiness, but this one brings about the negative things. It is a sad piece of artwork that shows the unhappy side of a marriage. hroughout the poem Minty uses literary devices like diction, analogy, and metaphors  to show how Pity and remorse are two emotions that come to the surface when reading the poem. 

Maus Article

I'm not sure if this article has been used yet, but I found it quit useful. The article speaks directly about Maus. It explains why the book is so good, and pretty much summarizes the whole book for you. The article further explains that the book or "comic" showed beyond a shadow of a doubt that comics could be just as biographical, as moving and as real as any book, and deal with issues that you wouldn’t expect to be addressed in the medium. It also explained how it showed that comics can be personal, can be revealing and can provide the author with a very real, visual and direct way of communicating with their audience. 

That article also points out how the total lack of color within the pages seems to amplify the starkness of the story. There’s just something about the pure black and white color scheme that gives the story more gravity – and unlike another take on the story of the Holocaust, Spiegelman’s doesn’t use occasional splashes of red like Spielberg’s Schindler’s List would some years later.

The article explains how the animals are used as characters. Every now and again you’ll accidentally find yourself accrediting the horrible acts that you see on the page down to the fact that the characters are animals, before very quickly realizing that the events depicted in the pages of this book were simultaneously very human and very inhumane. It almost goes without saying, but the book deals with some truly horrific and ugly experiences in a no holds barred sort of way. It obviously tackles the Holocaust, but it also focuses down on more intimate, less well known moments – the disgust of Spiegelman’s father when Art stops to pick up a black hitch-hiker, and the author’s amazement that a man who was the victim of a racist regime could he himself discriminate against someone because of their race.

I really found this article helpful, so I hope it is for someone else too. I’m pretty sure I will use this as my lens in my essay. Here is the link to the article. http://www.onemetal.com/2010/04/26/must-read-maus/