Necessities of Life

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1966

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Summary

Background

Poem Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Symbols & Motifs

Thumbtack

Rich envisions her youngest self as a “dark-blue thumbtack” (Line 4), an object described as a “small, fixed dot” (Line 3) that is constrained and insignificant. The thumbtack symbolizes the limitations put upon the speaker as a young artist and her separation from the great art around her. Rather than having the freedom to create her art on her own terms, she is “pushed into the scene” (Line 5) by others, without agency, so that she is “protruding / from the pointillist's buzz and bloom” (Lines 6-7). The speaker feels that she is not herself an artist but rather a tool to uphold certain artistic standards and expectations.

Dry Bulb

After the speaker begins her transformation, in an act of self-preservation she becomes “[s]caly as a dry bulb / thrown into a cellar” (Lines 22-23). A bulb that is so dry that it becomes scaly will no longer grow immediately when planted—instead, it needs to be rehydrated and specially treated first. By becoming unpleasantly dry and infertile, the speaker can protect herself from the artistic world. In the cellar, away from the artistic sphere, she can make sure that only she is using her gifts and potential: “I used myself, let nothing use me” (Line 24). The speaker regenerates, seeking the freedom to create her own sense of identity.

Mist and Houses

The poem closes with an image of smoke coming from the chimneys of nearby homes. This “curl of mist” (Line 39) evokes warmth during the winter, as physical air coming off a fire and figurative emotional connection. The speaker links the two explicitly, writing that the smoke is “visible as my breath” (Line 40).

The smoke is rising from “houses along a road” (Line 41), which symbolize both the speaker’s audience and her artistic community. Inside the houses, the speaker imagines “old women knitting” (Line 42), drawing the reader’s attention to the political and social ramifications of women being able to create art and “tell their tales” (Line 43). Enshrining their experiences in art reveals them as valuable and truthful. In contrast to the isolation of being a thumbtack, now the speaker can join the community.