Prevail (Rough Draft)
Written: January 15th, 2015
Poem: Harold Witt's "The Hawk" - Accessible here (page 4).
Nature guarantees the impossibility of perfect equality. There will always be differences in mental, physical, and emotional capacities. In his poem, “The Hawk”, Harold Witt focuses in on one instance of this inevitable inequality: a hawk and his prey. Through this illustration, Witt implies that, even though the powerful may oppress those underneath them, the weak and impotent can still prevail.
Poem: Harold Witt's "The Hawk" - Accessible here (page 4).
Nature guarantees the impossibility of perfect equality. There will always be differences in mental, physical, and emotional capacities. In his poem, “The Hawk”, Harold Witt focuses in on one instance of this inevitable inequality: a hawk and his prey. Through this illustration, Witt implies that, even though the powerful may oppress those underneath them, the weak and impotent can still prevail.
One’s tone of voice is always an indicator of one’s true feelings, and the one of the current work is no exception. Tone suggests the hawk is the embodiment of evil. For example, the hawk is “tense to kill” (Witt 3) his unsuspecting prey. “[T]o tear” (8) it to pieces is “its deadly purpose” (15). The hawk is a murderer filled with tension at the prospect of tearing into its unsuspecting victim, a most extreme form of malicious evil. Additionally, the hawk symbolizes the powerful. The hawk attacking its prey is used as evidence of “how meekness hasn’t a chance under the eye of power” (16-17). Given the hawk does not represent meekness, it must represent the powerful. But now an inevitable conclusion arises: if the hawk embodies evil, and the hawk represents the strong and powerful, the strong and powerful embody evil.
Tone presents the idea that the powerful are evil, while diction implies that the weak may still overcome them. First, the hunted animals symbolize the powerless. For example, “gentleness” (11) can be seen in the rabbit, and the lamb is “lost” (12) and alone. Further, “meekness” (16) inheres itself in both. The hunted are the archetype of the oppressed. Gentle, lacking strength. Meek, lacking courage. Lost, lacking identity. Second, the hunted prevail against the hawk. “[T]he hawk swoop[s] down” (25) going in for the kill. But then something unexpected occurs: “the hawk flap[s] up again” (29), talons empty. The prey “blend[s] in” (31) and hides itself from the bird. By using their intellect and outsmarting the hawk, they “[aren’t] caught” (30). Taken together, these two conclusions entail that the powerless can prevail against the hawk, can prevail against the powerful.
To conclude, the diction and tone of the poem, taken together, give grounds for thinking that even when the powerful oppress and attach those weaker than themselves, the meek and tender can overcome them. In light of this, it is surprising that the oppressed many times do nothing to end their oppression. Perhaps they do not think they can. Perhaps they do not want to. But the fact of the matter is, no man was made to live subservient to the will of another equally human man. Despite what nature may indicate, there is nothing more unnatural than oppression.
Tone presents the idea that the powerful are evil, while diction implies that the weak may still overcome them. First, the hunted animals symbolize the powerless. For example, “gentleness” (11) can be seen in the rabbit, and the lamb is “lost” (12) and alone. Further, “meekness” (16) inheres itself in both. The hunted are the archetype of the oppressed. Gentle, lacking strength. Meek, lacking courage. Lost, lacking identity. Second, the hunted prevail against the hawk. “[T]he hawk swoop[s] down” (25) going in for the kill. But then something unexpected occurs: “the hawk flap[s] up again” (29), talons empty. The prey “blend[s] in” (31) and hides itself from the bird. By using their intellect and outsmarting the hawk, they “[aren’t] caught” (30). Taken together, these two conclusions entail that the powerless can prevail against the hawk, can prevail against the powerful.
To conclude, the diction and tone of the poem, taken together, give grounds for thinking that even when the powerful oppress and attach those weaker than themselves, the meek and tender can overcome them. In light of this, it is surprising that the oppressed many times do nothing to end their oppression. Perhaps they do not think they can. Perhaps they do not want to. But the fact of the matter is, no man was made to live subservient to the will of another equally human man. Despite what nature may indicate, there is nothing more unnatural than oppression.
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