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Black Walnut Tree Mary Oliver Analysis

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The poem “Black Walnut Tree” by Mary Oliver illustrates the higher significance of their walnut tree. The greater idea that blood and heritage are more valuable than money. The speaker reinforces this idea through the use of figurative language, tone, and diction. The poem opens with a literal tone where the mother and speaker are discussing what to do with the walnut tree. They “debate” with themselves about whether or not to take down the tree for money. However, “debate” switches to “talk slowly” in lines 8-9 to demonstrate how serious the situation is for the two. Up to line 15, they are reasoning about why they should cut the tree. The speaker gives factual details about the tree such as the “leaves are getting heavier” in line 13. The tree is growing old and its’ fruit is getting more difficult to “gather away.” Rationally, they are giving valid reasons as to why the tree should be cut down. Distinctively, the tone of the poem switches from a literal connotation to a more figurative voice in line 16. The speaker acknowledges that the walnut tree holds greater significance to their “blood” than money. Something in their blood tells them to continue to “dig and sow.” For generations, her …show more content…

They would both “crawl with shame in the emptiness” of knowing that they would have neglected the significance the black walnut tree held. Not only would they be hurting themselves, but their “fathers’ backyard.” As in, they would feel shame for putting aside the years of hard work their ancestors put in. Ultimately, the speaker and her mother decided to keep the tree as mentioned in the last lines. Words to describe the tree such as “swings,” “leaping,” and “bounding” are full of life. This represents the liveliness and vibrancy the tree granted them even if they are still struggling

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The tree is meant to stand out from everything else and is disregarded by society. In the line “Oh fellow citizen, what have they done to us” it represents what the Indigenous people have had to go through and what pain the English brought with them. Similes are a powerful tool used by writers, they are used in communication as they help to create vivid and memorable descriptions by drawing comparisons between things that may not be inherently

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In the book “Roll of thunder hear my cry”, Mildred D. Taylor uses symbolism to provide context, and background information of the how their community is, and who the Logan’s fit in it. A great example when the author provides context and background information would be the fig tree. When the author is describing the fig tree, she describes it as “It keeps on blooming, bearing good fruit year after year, knowing all the time it’ll never get big as them other trees.” (pg 206) The author is trying to describe how the Logan family fits in in the community.

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The Black Walnut Tree Analysis In “The Black Walnut Tree,” by Mary Oliver, we are introduced to a financially struggling mother and daughter arguing whether or not to sell the worthless black walnut tree to pay off their mortgage. Consequently, the two ladies reluctantly refused to relinquish the walnut tree. Throughout the poem, Oliver alluded to the possible reasoning of why the family want to keep such an unnecessary tree and the possible significance the tree may hold to the two women, through the usage of figurative language.

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He then proceeds to try to do everything again but she silenced him and stands up for herself and screams no. Melinda talks about her tree she is making saying “My tree is definitely breathing; little shallow breaths like it shot up through the ground this morning …. Roots knob out of the ground and the crown reaches for the sun, tall and healthy. The new growth is the best part”(Halse Anderson 196). Her creating a new living tree that she finally likes is similar to her growth as a person.

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However , all they have to do it cut off one limb , so it can be healthy again. The tree is like Melinda , once they remove the dead part , will have healthy girl. Melinda’s dad says "He's not chopping it down. He's saving it. Those branches were long dead from disease.

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I 'd love to give it up. Quit. But I can 't think of anything else to do, so I keep chipping away at it" (p. 78). This shows how she wants the tree to be a perfect "strong old oak tree" and if it is anything different, it seems dead to her. This quote could be used to infer that she is picturing a perfect version of herself and because of what happened to her, she will not be that perfect version of herself that she wishes she could be.

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It leads to him making a decision he will regret for the rest of his life and that is to cause Finny's fall from the tree, which leads to his eventual death. This event marks the end of their carefree childhood and the beginning of Gene's journey toward maturity and understanding. The tree, which was once a symbol of freedom and joy, now

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In his memory, the tree is a “huge lone spike”(13) or an “artillery piece”(13), but when he sees it again it looks small and innocuous. Though the tree itself has not changed, Gene's perspective, which has changed over the years, is what is enabling him to face the tree without it haunting him. At the time of the incident, in his youth, the tree was a symbol of fear and forbidding. At the end of the novel, the tree has become a symbol of profound changes in perspective that time and growth can give people. “This was the tree, and it seemed to me standing there to resemble those men, the giants of your childhood, whom you encounter years later and find that they are not merely smaller in relation to your growth, but that they are absolutely smaller, shrunken by age….”(14).

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He or she may have a creative personality who would spot more beauty in nature and look deeper into it than others could ever imagine. While the elder tree in this poem could represent a tree that he grew up with in his backyard and is his favorite place to relieve his stress. “The wheat leans back towards its own darkness And I lean toward mine,” could play the part of the speaker minding his or her own business when “Between trees, a slender woman lifts up the lovely shadow Of her face, and now she steps into the air, now she is gone,” (Wright). These two lines out of the poem show that he or she does not like people.

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“Mom and Dad smiled at each other and laughed. It was a sound that Tree hadn’t heard from them in the longest time” (132). This shows how Tree wasn’t sure his parents were ever going to get along again, but they end up having a good time. This is an example of how family matters most and hope is always around. This situation gave Tree strength to preserve.

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“The Black Walnut Tree”, by Mary Oliver, represents strong family values and tradition very well. The poem is about a dilemma going on in a household that is built on land that has a rich history of this family’s tradition. The daughter and mother are having a debate about whether or not they should sell the monstrous but withering walnut tree their ancestors planted decades ago. If they sold this tree they could pay off their mortgage. So what is holding them back?

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The only piece of allusion which I was able to find was “the whip-crack of the mortgage,” in lines 34 and 35. This quote has many different interpretations, but one meaning which connected to the ideology of debt, money and success was the connection to slavery. The main reason why I found slavery to be connected to this quote is the use of a whip, and whips tend to correlate with slavery and being beaten. Slavery and debt go hand in hand, both cause people to do some things that they don’t want to such as long hours at work and the constant worry of what is to come. In the poem, the family is worried about whether they should sell their tree or not and this is one sign of being enslaved to something, a constant worry and thinking about doing something that they don’t want to.

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But there is another important meaning behind this tree. The tree symbolizes Hatsue and Ishmael hiding from the prejudices of the war and the hate Japanese people get from Americans. There is a lot of symbolism that occurs in this novel through the landscape and weather, even the rain. Rain symbolizes the uncontrollable events that affect human lives. This involves Carl getting hit in the head and dying, which affects Kabuo's life because he’s being blamed for it.

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1100 Words | 5 Pages

Dana Gioia’s poem, “Planting a Sequoia” is grievous yet beautiful, sombre story of a man planting a sequoia tree in the commemoration of his perished son. Sequoia trees have always been a symbol of wellness and safety due to their natural ability to withstand decay, the sturdy tree shows its significance to the speaker throughout the poem as a way to encapsulate and continue the short life of his infant. Gioia utilizes the elements of imagery and diction to portray an elegiac tone for the tragic death, yet also a sense of hope for the future of the tree. The poet also uses the theme of life through the unification of man and nature to show the speaker 's emotional state and eventual hopes for the newly planted tree. Lastly, the tree itself becomes a symbol for the deceased son as planting the Sequoia is a way to cope with the loss, showing the juxtaposition between life and death.

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Near the end of the novel she observes, “In the years she had been tying scraps to the branches, the tree had died and the fruit turned bitter. The other apple trees were hale and healthy, but this one, the tree of her remembrances, were as black and twisted as the bombed-out town behind it.” (Hannah 368) The apple tree represents the outcomes of war. It portrays the author’s perspective that lives wither and lose life due to such violence.

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