You Fit Into Me Margaret Atwood Analysis

Post-Modern writing often appears vague in nature, permitting the reader to infer deeper meanings upon reading the work, again and again. One feels compelled to reread the work, to better comprehend what is said in a just few sparse lines, as with Margaret Atwood’s very short poem, “You Fit into Me”. At first, the poem’s four lines appear to be deceptively simplistic in form, even a bit trite. Yet, when taking a closer look at the poem, it becomes clear that it’s so much more complex than it seems. As per many Post-Modern works, the poem shatters one’s original perceptions, when a twist is introduced. One that counters the accuracy of the poems intended meaning, by “tricking” the reader, with an intentional manipulation to make the reader uncomfortable enough to question both the poem and themselves. Atwood utilizes

The speaker in the poem figuratively hooks the reader in through the readers own predictable insights about love and intimacy. What was thought to be yet another poem about love and intimacy, manages to surprise and challenge traditional views. In only two stanzas there are many different Post-Modern literary techniques used to grab the reader’s attention. The atypical form underscores how traditional perceptions are meaningless in today’s world, and it makes the reader feel uncomfortable. Further drawing focus to its honest connotations. The two stanzas are ironic in the their distinctly dissimilar images of intimacy and the same “you”, as is the vague idea of who the speaker is. Intimacy isn’t always conventional, and it’s conceivable to mutually feel love and aversion towards a person. To feel ensnared by another, but to find it impossible or undesirable to leave a contradictory relationship, that’s at time loving and brutal. The poem is influential in prompting a reader to question their own