The Bigger Picture in Emily Dickinson’s “284”
Standing out from the society we live in is something that seems important to us, when in fact, you can’t stand out from a whole society. We might also think that we are a key part of our society, but in the end, we are just a small part of it. Our society might seem like the big picture, but there is actually a whole world above us, and the society we live in is only a small part of that world. Emily Dickinson uses a metaphor in her poem, The Drop, that wrestles in the Sea, to show how insignificant we are, no matter how special we think we are, ultimately suggesting that we forget that there is always something bigger.
The poem, The Drop, that wrestles in the Sea, uses a metaphor to convey a deeper meaning about the society we live in today. In the poem, the water drop and sea represent…show more content… The ocean and sea are representing our society, which can act just like the ocean does in this quote. “The Ocean—smiles—at her Conceit—” (Line 7). Conceit means to have excessive pride in oneself. This shows that the ocean has gotten very full of herself and thinks that she is at the top above all water drops, which is true, but she is not the biggest. The metaphor in this line shows that our society gets full of itself and forgets that there is more than just a society. This also applies to the sea, which represents our society. In line 8, Dickinson writes, “But she, forgetting Amphitrite—.” The sea in this quote is being referred to as “she” and Amphitrite is the goddess of the sea. In that quote, Amphitrite is more important than sea, but as the quote says, the sea forgets that Amphitrite is her goddess. This also applies to an individual and the society surrounding that individual. This poem shows that as an individual in a large society, you can forget that there is something bigger than your
