Sylvia Plath's "Daddy" and "The Arrival of the Bee Box"Sylvia Plath's poems "Daddy" and the "Arrival of the Bee Box" both show the speaker of the poem desperately struggling with their feelings of vulnerability and powerlessness. Throughout the poems, the readers see the speaker attempting to assert their power, though never actually succeeding. In the first stanza of 'Daddy", Plath pens "You do not do, you do not do, any more black shoe" and this appears to inform the reader that no longer will she put up with the 'black shoe'. Though, as the poem progresses, we see emotions see- sawing and no longer do we feel that the speaker of the poem has the power, no matter how hard they try to g ...view middle of the document...
Also, the speaker of the poem continually states that they can 'be sent back' at any time. Alternatively, in 'Daddy' rather than the speaker reassuring themself that they have authority over their father, the poem is more about accepting their feelings of effacement, and accepting the fact that their father's death have affected their chance of ever finding happiness again. Though, by the end of the poem, we see that the writer of the poem is tired of feeling the way they do, and no longer wants to be haunted by the pain of losing their father "Daddy, daddy, you bastard, I'm through" but we feel as if once again, Plath is attempting to assert herself, this time rather aggressively.In both poems, communication appears to be a major impediment. In both instances, the character in the poem is frustrated that they can't communicate and the frustration is shown in 'Daddy' by the repition of Ich four times. Ich is a throaty, strong word that it is unattractive to the ear if repeated multiple times, thus sounding angry. There is further evidence of this in 'The Arrival of the Bee Box' "I lay my ear to furious Latin, I am not a Caesar, I have simply ordered a box of maniacs" The lack of understanding, and feelings of isolation from the bees triggers anger in Plath, when she goes onto pen: "They can be sent back, They can die, I need feed them nothing, I am the owner" Meanwhile in 'Daddy', the fact that Plath cannot communicate to her father "I could never talk to you, the tongue stuck in my jaw", uncovered feelings...
