For What Binds Us Jane Hirshfield Summary

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The poem "For What Binds Us" by Jane Hirshfield uses scars, cuts, and pain to show personal weaknesses and downfalls but what ultimately comes from the wound only builds strength. An open cut will cause discomfort for an extended period of time. However, one's skin will fight to work its way back to a comfortable state. Both ends of the wound will meet once more. This process represents binding, which is an imperative subject in this poem. Hirshfield's poem seems to focus on the concept everything that keeps us together is a scar. In the poem, a scar is a symbol of strength and togetherness. Hirshfield repetitively uses the word scar to display that when a person endures an injury he is left with a scar. The scar is a representation of overcoming