Lobsters

Some very interesting ideas were brought up in the "Lobsters" discusion. One particular idea that really caught my attension was the comment about the colors. Most people agreed that the adjectives used to decribe the lobster's colors (mud, bruise, cadavar) were purposefuly chosen to create a mood of death. One person disagreed and said that the adjectives picked were not connected to a deeper meaning and happened to be the shades of color the author wanted to describe. The specific hues were just supposed to bring up a color in your mind; not help to create the tone or have connotation.

I certainly beleive that they were very carefully and artfully chosen to enhance the meaning of the poem. Every single word in a poem is picked extremely specifically. The three adjectives used to descibe the colors were no accident. Neither was the word choice of "herd", which was used multiple times. To me, when I hear the word "herd" I think of the Holocaust. "Herds" of people rounded up to strip and die in a gas chamber. How different is that than of "herds" of lobsters in a glass tank displayed for the pickings and an inhumane death? Not very. The tone the author created with the specific diction is very similar to that of the Holocaust. Mud, bruise, cadavar, herds. Even reading the words without context is depressing if not gloomy at the very least.

And on that happy note,
Alena