Social activism and literature: literary analysis and themes

¶ … Union Dead" by Robert Lowell is a historical poem written in free verse style. The poet details several events in American history, mingling the different eras of history as with a montage. The resulting effect is chaotic, as if Lowell means to draw attention to the inherent chaos, disharmony, and discomfort of war. War shapes history, as the poet suggests, and yet war brings with it complete devastation and always entails death.

In "For the Union Dead," Lowell eventually focuses on the Civil War to draw attention to the way racism continues to tear apart the nation. Whereas earlier stanzas mention Boston Common and other Revolutionary War era landmarks and symbols, later imagery clearly connotes the graphic and gruesome Civil War, in which an officer "leads his black soldiers to death." People in power possess a "peculiar power to choose life and die," showing how wars are fought by those in positions of power but only those on the front lines risk their lives.

Using imagery of "stone statues," the narrator reflects on the ways war becomes a static part of history. Wars define nations and often redefine national character, too. Yet with the Civil War, racism did not end. Even if slavery was officially over, racism remained as the poet mentions "When I crouch to my television set, / the drained faces of Negro school-children rise like balloons." Lowell concludes "For the Union Dead" with an allusion to World War Two, as he mentions Hiroshima and therefore evokes the terrible devastation of the atomic bomb. Americans seem to be engaged in an endless and seemingly never-ending cycle of war, and often these wars do not seem to result in appreciable changes to the everyday lives of the men and women who fought for their country.

Part Two (Unit VI): Option 2: Using "Cathedral," discuss the following: Explain how Carver addresses the idea that emotional and moral blindness are the true handicaps to be feared. Focus your explanation on the redemptive qualities of the protagonist's personal insight.

In "Cathedral," a blind man symbolically teaches the protagonist how to "see" more clearly. The use of a strong blind character is not new in literature; Homer and other Greek writers frequently used blind characters as prophets that helped illuminate the symbolic blindness of their tragic heroes. In "Cathedral," the protagonist instead allows the blind man to teach him through an act of simple but surprising intimacy. The protagonist is transformed from the experience, which was enhanced and actually made possible by the intervention of cannabis.

Emotional and moral blindness consume the protagonist, making him jealous and resentful at first and then simply prejudiced about the disability. The protagonist and narrator calls Robert "creepy," for example, and also mentions stereotypes he has heard about blind people (p. 5). When the blind man mentions that he has two television sets, one that is black and white and one that is color, the protagonist becomes practically speechless as he does not understand the blind man's worldview. Carver therefore paints an interesting image of the ways people from different backgrounds need to find a common ground in order to relate to one another and discover their shared values.