Her Kind By Anne Sexton Essay

Anne Sexton never had a good relationship with her parents, especially her dad. Later in her poem, she referenced this, she writes using personification: “my mother 's window a funnel of yellow heat running out” (9-10) proving her point of a simple childhood. By personifying she accessed the sense of touch and feel. She accessed these senses because people can relate and feel like they are there. This helped create an interest for all readers for her to show how relatable and enjoyable her childhood was. Readers can connect to the poem because they can relate to the “running” part of the line. This helps somebody imagine what the light coming from the window looks like because humans run but light can’t. Additionally, Poetry for Students says

Sexton’s life was hard and challenging and these characteristics were often portrayed throughout her writing. People around her often made her feel isolated and misunderstood. Sexton lived in the 1950-1960s, which is when the second wave of feminism started. Society was trying to figure out how women should fit into the community (“Her Kind”). She wrote a lot about feminism and where she believed women belonged. She wrote this poem about how she could work as hard as she wanted but she was never given appreciation about it. Sexton added in lines referencing how the treatment of women is mentally disorienting. It was disorienting because it was so frustrating for her. She couldn’t focus or be productive because she felt so strongly about feminism (“Her Kind”). This was a common problem that women of her time faced. She took it and related it to her feelings of isolation. Sexton struggled with depression but it was mainly caused by isolation and feeling alone. She expresses these feelings throughout the poem by mentioning how lonely the narrator is lonely and readers can assume that 's how Sexton feels too (“Her Kind”). She also refers to abuse and other dark things like dead bodies to show how her brain is in a dark place. Throughout her poem, she uses literary elements to mention these themes as a way of connecting to the reader about her life and the world