A Mother’s Figure of Speech

A mother is often very possessive with her things, namely her children. Sharon Olds depicts a mother’s feelings about her daughter in her work “The Possessive.” In it she uses detailed figures of speech to help illustrate the deeply rooted feelings and issues behind her poem. When analyzing this poem, it is necessary to break down these figures of speech and determine how they affect the understanding of the poem. The speaker of the …

…Olds marvelously uses these figures of speech. These figures of speech link the reader to the possessive world through a mother’s eyes. The reader can see and feel all that there is to see and feel because of the tremendous figures of speech that relate reader to speaker. The reader can, with some work, determine what the figures suggest, realize their meaning, and interpret the poem correctly for a complete understanding of the text.