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omnipoetics:diving_into_the_wreck [2025/04/24 00:10] – [Jungian Lens] mahrukhomnipoetics:diving_into_the_wreck [2025/04/24 00:49] (current) – holly
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-====== Diving Into the Wreck ====== 
 <WRAP center round info 60%> <WRAP center round info 60%>
-//**The Serpent and The Fire**// **(pp. 621-624)**+//The Serpent and The Fire// (pp. 621-624)
 </WRAP> </WRAP>
 +
 +====== Diving Into the Wreck ======
  
 ====== Adrienne Rich ====== ====== Adrienne Rich ======
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 ==== The Wreck ====  ==== The Wreck ==== 
  
-The word Wreck itself could refer to any destructive event, disaster, or trauma in the world as a whole or just the speaker themselves. It appears multiple times throughout the poem. Readers can infer that the wreck is underwater due to the fact that the speck is getting dressed in diving gear and is jumping into the water. This heavily implies that the water acts as some sort of a shield or barrier that keeps the wreck hidden from sight; and everyone knows the saying “out of sight, out of mind” meaning it could be long forgotten, which in turns plays into the usage of the book of myths symbol Rich uses. We never really get any details about the wreck - readers don’t know if it is a physical thing or an abstract concept, that is left open ended for readers to consider.+The word //wreck// itself could refer to any destructive event, disaster, or trauma in the world as a whole or just the speaker themselves. It appears multiple times throughout the poem. Readers can infer that the wreck is underwater due to the fact that the speaker is getting dressed in diving gear and is jumping into the water. This heavily implies that the water acts as some sort of a shield or barrier that keeps the wreck hidden from sight; and everyone knows the saying 'out of sight, out of mind' meaning it could be long forgotten, which in turns plays into the usage of the book of myths symbol Rich uses. We never really get any details about the wreck - readers don’t know if it is a physical thing or an abstract concept, that is left open ended for readers to consider.
  
 ====== Form ====== ====== Form ======
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 I go down. (lines 22-28) </poem> </blockquote> I go down. (lines 22-28) </poem> </blockquote>
  
-Rich places emphasis on the fact that the speaker is going down, entering the water, by using the repetitive technique and stating “I go down” twice. Rich makes sure that the reader knows, without confusion, what it is the speaker is doing. Once she’s established the ‘what’, she moves on to make sure the reader can envision what is happening.+Rich places emphasis on the fact that the speaker is going down, entering the water, by using the repetitive technique and stating “I go down” twice. Rich makes sure that the reader knows, without confusion, what it is the speaker is doing. Once she’s established the ‘what,’ she moves on to make sure the reader can envision what is happening.
  
 <blockquote> <poem> First the air is blue and then <blockquote> <poem> First the air is blue and then
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 black I am blacking out… (lines 34-37) </poem> </blockquote>  black I am blacking out… (lines 34-37) </poem> </blockquote> 
  
-Anyone who knows anything about the ocean knows that the further down you dive, the less there is light from the sun, which in turn, makes the water around you change color until you are at the floor and completely without light. They also know that the further down you div,e the more pressure there is on the diver’s body. Making it hard for the speaker to stay present and focused. Which could very well be the reason why the wreck itself never gets a physical description. +Anyone who knows anything about the ocean knows that the further down you dive, the less there is light from the sun, which in turn, makes the water around you change color until you are at the floor and completely without light. They also know that the further down you dive, the more pressure there is on the diver’s body. Making it hard for the speaker to stay present and focused. Which could very well be the reason why the wreck itself never gets a physical description. 
 Usually, when authors invoke descent or falling, it is so readers will attribute some aspect to known concepts like the fall from grace, when the archangels were sent to hell. So to see it not mean anything more than falling, especially in a poem with as much meaning as this one, is an interesting perspective to take on the topic. Usually, when authors invoke descent or falling, it is so readers will attribute some aspect to known concepts like the fall from grace, when the archangels were sent to hell. So to see it not mean anything more than falling, especially in a poem with as much meaning as this one, is an interesting perspective to take on the topic.
  
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 ==== Jungian Lens ====  ==== Jungian Lens ==== 
  
-The images that Rich produces in this poem, to me, sounds like an 'active imagination' exercise. It is as if the author is descending into her own unconscious (the ocean) through a ladder, with "the book of myths", a knife, camera, "body-armor of black rubber", "flippers", and an "awkward mask." The depth in which she expresses her appearance points towards the persona that she is carrying inward. She seems prepared, to decode and capture the wreck that she wants to explore. This inward journey of active imagination can only be traversed on one's own, as she points out with "here alone."+The images that Rich produces in this poem sounds like an [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Active_imagination| active imagination]] exercise. It is as if the author is descending into her own unconscious (the ocean) through a ladder, with "the book of myths", a knife, camera, "body-armor of black rubber", "flippers", and an "awkward mask." The depth in which she expresses her appearance points towards the persona that she is carrying inward. She seems prepared, to decode and capture the wreck that she wants to explore. This inward journey of active imagination can only be traversed on one's own, as she points out with "here alone."
  
 When the air gets black, her mask, or the persona pumps her "blood with power." There seems to be an imaginary boundary between the personal and collective unconscious - as she has to learn to turn her "body without force / in the deep element." Still going down, she soon forgets the purpose of her visit, observing a shift from her idea of self to that of others down there, her breathing changes.  When the air gets black, her mask, or the persona pumps her "blood with power." There seems to be an imaginary boundary between the personal and collective unconscious - as she has to learn to turn her "body without force / in the deep element." Still going down, she soon forgets the purpose of her visit, observing a shift from her idea of self to that of others down there, her breathing changes. 
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-=== Other Resources ===+===== Other Resources ===== 
 I found this when I googled the poem: [[https://www.sparknotes.com/poetry/diving-into-the-wreck/overview/|Diving into the Wreck: Summary & Analysis | SparkNotes]]. It gives in-depth analysis of nearly everything in the poem and could be useful for students looking into the work more.  I found this when I googled the poem: [[https://www.sparknotes.com/poetry/diving-into-the-wreck/overview/|Diving into the Wreck: Summary & Analysis | SparkNotes]]. It gives in-depth analysis of nearly everything in the poem and could be useful for students looking into the work more. 
  

Trace: • whorf • silva • ortiz • 32nd_light_poem • poetic_autoethnography • li-po • to_roosevelt • jetman_haylli • jung • quasha

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