A practical criticism of ‘For the Union Dead’ Essay

The fish tank is gone. Everywhere, giant finned cars intrude forward like fish a savage servility slides by on grease (For the Union Dead Robert Lowell) In Lowells poem For the Union Dead there is an inherent theme of the lost thoughtlism which caused the American Civil War and its replacement with commercialism and materialism. Giant finned cars nose forward like fish, here Lowell reminds us of 20th century materialism by manner of speaking about the image of the highly desired Cadillac (finned cars) whilst combining it with the comparison of a fish.This in my mind creates the idea of mankind following each other mindlessly to each material craze and status object. however the image of men following each other (nose forward) all(a)udes to the idea of slavery indicating that earlier than liberating the African Americans from slavery we have in fact, all become slaves to our material needs. Also the aquatic references seen throughout the poem depend like references to Alan Tat es poem Ode to the Confederate Dead Now that the salt of their line of merchandise stiffens the saltier oblivion of the sea, seals the malignant purity of the flood.This could again be an indication that perhaps the northmost (and indeed all of liberated America has in fact lost its war against slavery to materialism and are now in the Oblivion of the sea. Although this then creates a feeling of reliance on our objects as us fish are reliant on the oxygen in our metaphoric sea of materialism which is alike symbolized earlier in the poem by the image of Colonel Shaws monument in Boston jet being propped up to by planks so It can survive the building of an underground parking construction Propped up by a plank splint against the garages earthquake. This not merely shows this new found reliance on objects but represents the war Colonel Shaw was (and now again is) fighting against slavery.I pressed against the new and galvanized nipping fence on the Boston Common. Behind their c age, yellow dinosaur steam shovels were grunting as they cropped up lashings of mush and grass to gouge their underworld garage (For the Union Dead Robert Lowell)Galvanised barbed fence grunting gouge brings to mind the contrasting image that these new mechanical Dinosaurs are our slaves. Which is made to seem cruel not just by the use of Grunting but by the personification of the cranes They cropped up tons of mush and grass. This suggests that the 20th century American has not just forgotten the Idealism of the North but has in fact taken up that of that South This gives further meaning to the fact that the acidulate these new slaves are doing is knocking over and damaging Shaws monument which is close to falling into the locating in Boston Common (being dug for a new parking structure) which represents the killing of Shaw and his Idealism by Materialism. The ditch where his sons body was thrown and lost with his Niggers Again.