Sylvia
Sylvia Plath applies the poem "Daddy" as a means to voice her inner conflict about her true identity. Her father becomes the vehicle for her struggle, because he represents a connection to the love and admiration she felt as a child; he is an anchor to a part of herself, to which she is deeply connected. It is almost as if she becomes her father in this poem talking about her conflict of dealing with aspects of her own existence. She employs the means of fact and fiction to set free her inner struggle. The poem "Daddy" was written shortly before Sylvia's death, a time of her life where she was confronted with deep sadness and despair. Her life had taken a turn for the worse after the divorce from her husband, putting her into a place where she could no longer hide from herself. In the first stanza of the poem, Sylvia actually states the purpose of this poem. These words, spoken to herself, have a feel of resignation, a conclusion about a life that is changing through new realizations and circumstances. She is saying that she can no longer
" Her words are almost frantic, urging the reader to pay attention to what comes next. Sylvia Plath: The Poetry of Initiation. She tries to explain to herself how hard she tried to become free from this distorted self image without success, but that now it is done. In stanza eleven through thirteen, it is almost as if she is reflecting on the origins of her suffering after a good cry. The tone becomes almost unattached and resolved. In The Bell Jar, Ester Greenwood says: "every time I picked up a German dictionary or a German book, the very sight of those dense, black, barbed wire letters made my mind shut like a clam. In this stage of the poem the speaker reveals the essence of her struggle, she no longer uses resignation and sentimental attachments as in the beginning; she has broken free, has stripped away the camouflage to make room for what is real to her. Sylvia did try to draw within the lines of inner destruction using appropriate coloring, but at the same time signals a break down of communication. In other poems, such as "The Beekeeper's Daughter" and "The Colossus," she shows this seemingly limitless adoration of her father. "So daddy, I am finally through. She made it her life purpose to be close to him. I, I, I, I, is a means to direct the reader to the real subject, as if to advise:" From hereon, it is me talking, not my father; I am free. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1979. In line four and five of stanza five, she reflects on her life and how she feels about it, almost as if she has nothing to show for it, as if she had barely existed.
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