so much depends -William Carlos Williams William Carlos Williams’s poem, “The Red Wheelbarrow,” is either classified as being unbelievably simple, or not a soul knows what is going on in the poem. In the past, I have somewhat agreed that the poem is utterly simple and fairly clear with fellow classmates, professors, and friends. I have also heard of it as being talked about how it is a “still-life” poem – a poem that captures an image (imagism) – and that that is all it is. I would like to argue that the poem is much more than a few words laid out in four two-line stanzas. I believe that William C. Williams, being an American poet during the early 20th century (that is all I really know about him… So this is kind of a New-Critic blog post), has created a poem that captures what many believed America to be: A country that was built on hard work… How can it be that “so much depends upon” a wet red wheelbarrow surrounded by white chickens? Well, I believe that the phrase, “so much depends upon,” actually pertains to each line of the poem. In other words, every line of the poem is important. Let’s break it down…
The 2nd, 3rd, and 4th stanzas each contain a color: those being red, blue, and white (the red wheelbarrow, the “blue” rain water, and the white chickens) – the colors that America holds so dear – the colors that are on our flag and represent our country. Williams chose to use these colors in his poem. He didn’t have to, but he did. Not all chickens are white, nor is everyday a rainy one. And why does the wheelbarrow have to be red? It could have been any color. I guess what I am trying to say here, is that Williams had the option to choose any set of colors and any set of objects, but he chose these specific ones with these specific colors. So yeah, red, blue and white – sounds pretty symbolic to me. Now let’s talk about the objects themselves… The objects in these last three stanzas are all different, but at the same time they are all similar. They are similar in the way that they can all be found on a farm and farming was a big part of the American ideal, especially when moving out west… They are all different when you think of precisely what they are and how they came to be. The “white chickens” are living creatures as well as livestock, therefore they represent life and food. They are also white, which is often a color associated with innocence and I would say that chickens are pretty innocent… Wouldn’t you? There’s not much to say about the “rain water.” It gives life and keeps things alive, and its natural. On the other hand, we have the “red wheelbarrow” which is an inanimate object that is not at all natural. The wheelbarrow was created by man as a tool to work faster. A tool that could represent the forward momentum of society… (It has a wheel that can move forward). The wheelbarrow is also red. Red is usually a color attributed to corruption or tainted innocence, unlike those chickens over there who just so happen to be innocent and white. Red is also the color of blood, which the human race (being on top of the food chain and all) likes to shed when it comes to being hungry and there just so happens to be some chickens standing around – some murdered chickens whose whiteness is now all reddened… Chicken blood is not the only blood shed by man either. Sounds to me like man, with their red wheelbarrows and their superiority, deserves the devilish color red… They’re not so innocent. Harry S. Truman (the 33rd president) once said something along the lines of: “America was built on courage, imagination, and a strong determination to do the job at hand.” Basically what that means, is that America was built on hard work and the drive to succeed when it comes to kicking other peoples asses in war. And that is why so much depends upon a red wheelbarrow. (Not sure if any of this made sense… Just throwing thoughts around. Sort of pulled this out of my ass.)
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