A Comparison Of The Landmine And Ropes Views On Innocent Death

The Landmine and Ropes Views on Innocent Death

Although the Landmine and the Rope in Melissa Ranges poems are both made to participate in horrifying violence against the innocent, the Landmine reveals its boastful indifference by twisting imagery of life and hope into a grotesque threat to haunt the world of peace long into the future, while the rope reveals it's humble sympathy by longing for a future that redeems violence by affirming life and beauty. In the two poems “The Landmine,” and “The Rope,” Melissa Range strives to depict these two items as instruments assisting with violent death of innocent people. In “The Landmine” Melissa Range associates the explosion of a Landmine with the violent and gory title of an “amputee”(3).

In the poem, the Landmine describes how the moment an innocent person lights his “fuse” the Landmine fulfills its “sole reason” of violently killing anyone to come close, which gives satisfaction to the Landmine for accomplishing its ultimate goal. The Landmine explains how it's violent destruction of innocent people can be compared to the beautiful transformation of a flower “Blooming into a bouquet,” showing that the Landmine thinks of its violent action, which results in people becoming an “amputee”, as a beautiful sight that represents flourishing life, when actually is a horrifying image that leads to death. In the poem, the Landmine states that it has a “love” for people. Love spreads joy, and sometimes, if two lovers meet, that love results in life. But this love that comes from the boastful Landmine, is a false love that originates from the desire to violently kill innocent “women,... and

When the rope is being used for hanging, the rope “tries to make it quick” because the rope finds hanging people unpleasant, which leads to the rope regretting ever assisting in this action. The rope then dreams of “baling hay” which serves a positive purpose of providing for animals, or helping them sustain life. The rope complains about “binding saints to the stake” and regrets ever helping when the rope argues that “twine wasn't made for this.” The rope feels it should not help in these violent, unjust, and innocent deaths when the rope states he would “rather pull a bucket from a well” which shows how the rope wishes of a life where he could serve a positive purpose, as opposed to assisting in the death of innocent human. The rope states that it would enjoy “giving an acrobat a path across the air” just so it can play a part in enjoying, or enlightening other people so he can make up for all the lives he ended. The rope dreams of being tied “to an old tire,” to “let the children swing” because the rope would much rather bring joy into the lives of children then taking “the breath of children.” So although “The Landmine” and “The Rope” both partake in the violent death of innocent people, the landmine has a leisure attitude towards the death of the innocent, while the