“Dread”

Prieto 1

Essay #2: Writing about poetry
Rebekah Prieto - ENG102

“Dread”

    The poem by Mary Karr, “Field of Skulls“, is one which is full of dread and horror. The imagery presented could rattle you right down to your bones. When Karr writes, “a field of skulls, angled jaws and eye-sockets, a zillion scooped-out crania”(10-11), she is making thoughts enter your mind that you never thought possible; thoughts which make you want to purge any defilements you possess. This poem, written about a twisted and disturbed individual, shows how incredibly demented ones mind can become if fear is allowed to take over.
    The representation of fear is present anywhere you look. In the beginning Karr writes, “let’s say the window you’ve picked is a black postage stamp you spend hours at, sleepless, drinking gin “ (2-5). I wonder why this individual, who I see as a man, is so afraid, is it because he has had something terrible happen to him? Is it because he is mentally ill, maybe. I think it is because he has been a drunk his entire life, he has never been successful, and he has become deeply depressed about his status in life. He fears, or could it be that he wishes, he will be taken to live in the concentric sphere surrounding the earth which carries the celestial bodies of the worlds most feared and malicious demons.  How can one person become so demented? He looks at the night sky and all he can see is evil. He feels that demons are closing in around him.
    Perhaps this is a man who has done wrong to someone. Perhaps he has succeeded in an unrighteous act of evil and now he must pay for his wrong doing. He is afraid. His acts are schizophrenic in nature. “Perhaps that disgruntled mail clerk from your job has already scratched your name on a bullet—that’s him rustling in the azaleas” (17-20). His hallucinations are

Prieto 2

overcoming reality; he fears that everyone is out to get him. He is no longer able to function
normally. Has he become mad beyond recovery? Will the vexed demons teach him a lesson?
    “You caress the thought, for it proves there’s no better spot for you than here” (20-22). He has become a hermit; he is afraid to leave to safe corridors of his home. These lines only help to prove his fear and dread of the night’s monstrosities. Or is it he who is the monster? He sits on his sofa telling his fears to no one but the emptiness which surrounds him. Why is he talking to himself? What is he plotting? He has no one to turn to; he is completely alone. He is trying to decide if this world, with all of its deceitfulness and spit, is worth being a part of.
    This poem is written as if it is his mind speaking to him. I hear it as a woman’s voice. She is reminding him of all the evil he is made of. She is threatening him. It is a dark and frightening poem full of intense imagery. I feel the fear running through my blood as I read line after line, “for criminals roam your very block” (13-14) and “plus minor baby-eaters unidentified, probably in your very midst”(16-17). I can see this disgusting man, dirty, hasn’t shaved in days, and sweating from the fear and alcohol running through his ragged veins. His blood runs cold. His thoughts of the evil that roam the earth’s surface are merely comparisons of himself. His conscious is eating him alive. Will he survive?
    I am disgusted by most every line. The images is my head make me want to cry in fear. The dimensions of evil intertwine in my mind. I can’t help but think that the author is talking about someone she knows; what else could possess her to create such evil thoughts. Maybe this is a man who has done her wrong; killed her soul. Now she is out to torment his every thought. Will she torture him until he is no more? Does she wish for him to become a part of the “Field of Skulls”? “You stare and furious stare, confident there are no gods out there” (24-25). She is

Prieto 3

telling him that he can look for as long as he wants but no one will ever come to save him. She is telling his that even God can not save him now. He will pay for his wrong doings. He will suffer.
Like Chinese water torture he will sit in confinement; a prisoner in his own home he will remain until he can take no more. The thoughts of what is waiting for him in the dark of night are pulling on his emotions. He stares out of the blackest window and as he cringes at the dark; he is afraid, yet he cannot help but to stare. He fears that if he stops looking that will be the moment the demons will take him. She is succeeding in her devious plan to make him suffer.
    Towards the end of his battle his conscious seems as though she is feeling some guilt about the anguish she is causing him when she says, “In this way, you’re blind to your own eye’s intricate machine” (25-26). She is telling him that if he just opens his eyes he will see that there is nothing there; there are no demons waiting to gobble him up. She is saying that he has allowed himself to become blind and now his eyes are playing tricks on him. The suggestions help you see that even though she has been out to cause him the ultimate fear, she has a heart. She is feeling some guilt about the hurt and fear that she has caused and the numbness she has created. Then she comes to her senses and regains her focus. She is angry about the wrong doing he has imposed on her and now she will make him suffer. She can feel that the end is near; her plan to end him is now within reach.
    He is unable now to see reality, ”If the skulls are there” (28) “could they not stare with slack jawed envy at the fine flesh that covers your scalp, the numbered hairs” (30-32). He is frightened to his core now. The demons and monsters are licking their lips; they want to take his very flesh. This cannibalistic imagery is used to further implement the fear and dread he is feeling. The idea that they are staring at him with “slack jawed envy” (31) represents that his

Prieto 4

demented thoughts have completely taken over his soul, and will soon take his flesh.
    He can no longer take the torments of his mind, of his conscious, and of his body. He will now end his own life, “at the force your hands hold?” (33). With his own two hands, the force, he is no more. His conscious has succeeded in her mission; her goal was to make him suffer and ensure that he would possess the ultimate fear. She drove him completely crazy to the point of death. He has now received what he must have deserved.
    The fear and dread in this poem are enough to make anyone fear the night, fear demons that roam the earth, and dread the very thought of going crazy. Her propose was to show how the mind has the power to drive someone to taking their own life. There is amazing yet disturbing imagery through out the entire text of the poem.  Mary Karr’s “Field of Skulls”, is an ultimate example of extreme monstrosity and horror.

Prieto 5

Work Cited

Mary Karr, “Field of Skulls” from Viper Rum. Copyright © 1998 by Mary Karr. Web. http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/171884


Comments: My formating got a little screwy when I copied and pasted
 
I am still unsure if I am summarizing or analyzing??? I would like any input you have whether it is on my grammar or the content. Any help would be greatly appreciated.