Sharon Olds 'Summer Solstice, New York City'

Sharon Olds “Summer Solstice, New York City,” is a poem of great relatability, that is, its embedded theme of life and the troubles that occur in it is something everyone deals with at some point. The poem captures the relatable feeling of worthlessness and stress that most people occur or have at least occurred at some point in their life. The poem ends with a somewhat uplifting theme, the man is saved, and will not kill himself by jumping off a building. However, this uplifting and jubilant conclusion is somewhat redundant. The man didn’t kill himself, but he doesn’t exactly fix any of his problems. He’s right back to where he was emotionally that he was at the beginning of the story. The only reason the man doesn’t jump is because he comes

Most would come to the conclusion that the people and the officials of New York city saved a disconsolate man’s life, all in a day’s work. However, was the man really saved? Of course, literally, he was saved from killing himself, but what does that actually do? The poem ends on the note of him being saved so we don’t have any solid evidence to how the man’s life played out. How is it clear that the man won’t go and jump off a building the next week? When the man in the poem is examined, it is clear that there is very little progress for him, rather the speaker focuses on patting the great city on the back. This is immensely clear through the entire poem, looking at any line it is obvious that the city is being put on a pedestal for their acts, even when the man stepped down from the edge of the building, the police officer was seen as being compassionate by giving a cigarette to the man “the tall cop lit a cigarette… and gave it to him” (35-37). The man could have pulled out his own cigarette, but the speaker wanted to make sure that even in the deepest of moments, the city and its people’s actions were praised. The man still has his pain, addiction, and after the event possibly be more embarrassed and depressed by his actions and what people think of him, leading from what should have been progress, to what is regression. Looking at “Summer Solstice, New York City”, it’s clear what Sharon Olds prioritizes, the city of New York and its great people, yet there should be some room for consideration of the main character of the poem. The main character of this poem is merely a side character, acting as a catalyst to the rest of the cast working to show their full