Feild of skulls

Zareth Martinez

Laura Cline

English 102

15 September 2011

Suicidal

Mary Karr’s poem Field of skulls gives the reader a forbidding and sinister glimpse into the deepest buried thoughts that creeps around ones mind. For he, the speaker is someone who is lost in thought of the “darkness” lurking about. He presents an emptiness for life, for this his thoughts manifest into a disturbing conviction that many souls are terrorized by mischievous sprites. He ponders the idea that anyone can be capable of just about anything; it can be any unsuspecting individual such as your neighbor, your friend, even yourself. He is at this time fighting his own inner demon who has given up on all hope of life and sees no good is left in the world. Overall, the speaker is contemplating suicide and weighing out his reasons to die.

The speakers tone is edgy and chilling, he has conveyed no difference in life and death. The "nights scrim" is a perfect way to think about the authors mindset, an illusion filled mind that has broken from reality trying to gain serenity through suicide, to find an alternative way out from all the despondent in his mind’s eye. The mention of the skulls, is a connection between the living and dead this seems to be a theme of this poem.

The beginning of the poem opens with the speaker illuminating his state of depression, his isolation from others and views of despair. The linguistic features are subtle and to the point.

“Stare hard enough at the fabric of the night,

and if you’re predisposed to dark--let’s say

the window you’ve picked is a black

postage stamp you spend hours at,

sleepless, drinking gin after the I love

Lucy”

(Karr lines 1-6)

The poem provides contrast imagery to the readers mind.
“--stare like your eyes have force, and behind

any night’s taut scrim will come the forms

you expect pressing from the other side.”

(Karr lines 7-10)

In this verse the speaker continues to reference darkness, almost as if it is an inner darkness within. The speaker uses Taut scrim as an imagery, scrim is a backdrop, cloth used in theaters to create illusions using light that can only be seen from behind . This can be interpreted as the speakers sight of darkness or source of pain. How he will only catch sight of the light, which is his peace, or happiness, would only be seen or felt through death. When acknowledging monsters such as Adolf Hitler and Uncle Joe (Josef Stalin) two of the mankind's most infamous criminals towards humans and the carnage they committed seems to be a driving force of evidence as to how he is viewing the world. He appears to have lost faith in mankind and views the world as a dark place filled with false illusions, such as happiness or moral.

The poem then shifts to his paranoia, his mind fills with the presumption that his life will come to bitter end.

"that disgruntled mail clerk from your job

has already scratched your name on a bullet--that’s him

rustling in the azaleas."

(Karr lines 19-21)

He appeals the thought that someone has already intended on killing him, giving justification to take his own life, rather than giving someone else the gratification of doing so. This speaker also insinuates that life has much less beauty and a lot of ugliness. "you stare, and furious stare,

confident their are no gods out there."

Again this is depression and justification for suicide.

“If the skulls are there--

let’s say they do press toward you

against nights scrim-- could they not stare

with slack jawed envy at the fine flesh

that cover your scalp, the numbered hairs,

at the force your hands hold?”

(Mary Karr lines 29-34)

As the poem came to an end, the speaker reflectively elicits of his own actions which creates a debacle in his mind regarding his actions being justified? Is he committing sin as those monsters? Is it fair for him to go through such a horrendous act and take his own life, when so many who’s life where cut short long for life.

Work Citation

Karr, Mary “Field of Skulls” poetryfoundation.org. Poetry foundation

2011. Web.

I believe I am getting the concept of analyzing, well at least I hope! I have notice I have difficuly ending a paper so if anyone has any advise I would appreciate it ..Thanks !