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Words: | Submitted: Thu Jan 29 2004
... theme of good vs. evil. This theme can be seen in some of Plath's other poems. Take 'Face Lift' or 'Morning Song' for example, the theme of good and evil is represented by the images of babies she juxtaposes with those of death. The same binary opposition of images is used in 'A Birthday Present' when the narrator says, "White as babies' bedding and glittering with dead breath." Again the two juxtaposed images are of death and babies. It can therefore be said that this theme is typical of Plath's writing and is probably influenced by the miscarriage she suffered prior to writing these poems. Another device that Plath employs for a specific effect in this poem is her use of the personal pronoun 'you'. The narrator questions, "Is it impossible for you to let something go and have it go whole?" and, "Must you kill what you can?" Many other ...
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