Known for luring men to their doom with their voices, sirens were considered menacing creatures. As a ship would appear off the coast of their homeland, the sirens would begin singing a song so alluring that men could not resist crashing into the sirens island, causing their own death. All things considered, psychosis is a common illness amongst individuals with a lost connection to external reality, such as men at sea. Therefore, sirens were not menacing creatures rather than delusions that the men at sea would have before taking their lives. First and foremost, psychosis is the general term for many disorders, including major mood disorders such as depression and schizophrenia. Common symptoms of these disorders include delusions and hallucinations. …show more content…
The siren is sick of her role as the guide to the afterworld. She wishes to exchange the secret of death in return for her wings to be taken away so she can rest in peace. She does not like bringing these depressed individuals to the other side. Her role is to lure these individuals into a comforting state before death with her song but she grows tired. The siren does not enjoy singing this song of death but does recognize the importance when she states the song as "fatal and valuable". In line twenty-two, the siren states the song as a cry for help then emphasizes by calling out to the audience with "Help me!". The siren is not requesting help for herself, but rather quoting from the minds of the suicidal men at sea before committing their final act. Many individuals facing suicide cry to the heavens or other individuals for help before deciding to commit the act of killing themselves. Once they have received no help they feel as if their value of life is little to none and that death is the best way out of their misery. Atwood ends the poem with the siren stating "Alas it is a boring song but it works every time". The siren feels the song is a boring one because everytime the "song", or in other words the song of death, is played little to no individual escape. The lost sailors run out of food and hope, causing them to lose their minds. Once the sailors have lost their hope they feel there is no reason to live longer just to face death shortly after. The sailors commit suicide to quicken the death they know is arriving