M.R.+EMILY+DICKINSON'S+HIGHER+PURPOSE

They Shut Me Up In Prose - Emily Dickinson's Higher Purpose

I think that Dickinson is trying to convey two higher purposes in this poem. One is about being held captive. The first stanza of the poem begins by talking about how Dickinson was locked up, then comparing this time in lockup to when she was a little girl. The ending of this stanza is talking about how somebody put her in the closet because they liked her 'still'. This image of being still could be compared to maybe when she was little because her parents had to teach her better manners so they practiced keeping still. Or it could be a darker twist, one in which her family was deranged and liked to lock up their little girl. Maybe it wasn't her family that locked her up at all but some evil force. I also wonder about the first line/title: They shut me up in prose. As a poet, Dickinson might be suggesting that people (her family) encouraged her or forced her to read or write prose, rather than poety, which she loves.

In the last stanza of the poem, Dickinson's second higher purpose is about motivation. We can see this because she is talking about how no body can will you, can determine you, better than you can for yourself. If you can will yourself to do good, then you can end the restraint you have on someone else and let them go. She says it's as easy as a star which isn't easy at all. Being a star is much harder than people make it look, and seeing stars is also hard because there are only so many stars we can see with the naked eye. After being motivated and releasing captivity, the capturer can laugh and relax, and say its in the past. Or the person that was let go can finally be in the real world and look back and laugh about what has happened in their life.

I think that the poet was motivated, because if I do say so myself, this sounds like it could have been written from a perspective that underwent all of the things she is hinting at in her writing. She wanted people to stop what they are doing, abolish their captivity over others. Maybe this had to do with slavery and she was an abolitionist. In a small way, this poem can make people think about their life in a way that maybe they can change the way they are treating other people and if this poem is related to slavery, that the slave owners could end their cruel rule over other humans. This poem could also influence people with mental problems to seek help because who in their right mind would lock up a child, but then this child grows up and is locked up once again, maybe in an asylum because of the way they think, but at least they can fix their minds. We ourselves can be our own prisoner and capturer. Because when do we hold ourselves back? If we are critical about ourselves, we are holding ourselves prisoner because we aren't allowing ourselves to do things and there for are not seeking out all opportunities. I guess we could also hold other people because we can be critical of other and we can hold them still and captive.