I have decided to discuss Katie Kessler’s blog entry written on “The Last of the Flock”. The second half of Kessler’s entry really struck me. She drew a parallel between the loss of the man’s flock and what is going on in the United States, economically, today. Throughout the semester at school, home, and on my way to work I have continuously reflected on this poem because of the same parallel Kessler brought to light in her writing.
While I disagree with the first part of Kessler’s entry, in that I do not believe the man in the poem was overly connected to his sheep, I think the emphasize put on the sheep was because of the loss the sheep was representative of. The man was experiencing losses that were likely to trigger more deep losses, as once you are selling assets to feed your family and in the case the assets are also his way of life, what happens when you are out of assets, how do you feed your family then? The anxiety or deep depression of getting his last sheep from a rock, I felt was representative of almost a temporary insanity as that type of deep loss brings so much, sadness, confusion, anger, anxiety, depression, questions, fears about the future, and how he is going to continue to take care of his ten children.
Kessler wrote that he rarely mentioned his children and that she felt they came second to the sheep and it seems she felt he needed to straighten out his priorities. I disagree with Kessler in that I don’t think the problem is so much that he hates his children as much as it is what the children represent. I find the children to be representative of the question, how is he going to survive and provide a life for all of them when he is losing his life for them and his mind. I think this speaks to the temporary insanity, not any type of true hatred for his children. Nor do I think the man was cursed as he felt he was in the poem for hating his children. I think when you lose what you perceive to be “everything” you lose your mind and one would feel cursed if they were depressed.
Again, I find that the reaction to the loss of the sheep was a reaction to much more and shows what can happen to a man or person due to hard economic times and a changing world. He lost more than his sheep. He lost his way of life, stability, security, and he does not know what money shortages or food shortages may be ahead, as well as political changes. Kessler seems to have agreed with me on this point, as she wrote, “The death of his sheep could be interpreted as his slow but very real reality of the political system crumbling from under him.” This quote speaks to the changes occurring during Wordsworth tine, due to the industrial revolution and draws a parallel to what is happening today in terms of the economy including the unemployment rate, outsourcing of jobs, the housing market crash, our recent stock market crash. Kessler included the loss of jobs, the housing crises, and the debate over healthcare reform as changes in our society that can parallel the changes the man who lost his sheep in Wordsworth poem.
While Kessler did not close on a positive note, I would like to try. I may be reaching but I would like to include the idea, that overall the man did do the right thing; as he sold his flock to feed his family. Just as things cycled then economically speaking and eventually improved, I would hope things will cycle for the U.S. as well. I believe Wordsworth would remind us that there is nature and we should be able to find contentment in that.
While I disagree with the first part of Kessler’s entry, in that I do not believe the man in the poem was overly connected to his sheep, I think the emphasize put on the sheep was because of the loss the sheep was representative of. The man was experiencing losses that were likely to trigger more deep losses, as once you are selling assets to feed your family and in the case the assets are also his way of life, what happens when you are out of assets, how do you feed your family then? The anxiety or deep depression of getting his last sheep from a rock, I felt was representative of almost a temporary insanity as that type of deep loss brings so much, sadness, confusion, anger, anxiety, depression, questions, fears about the future, and how he is going to continue to take care of his ten children.
Kessler wrote that he rarely mentioned his children and that she felt they came second to the sheep and it seems she felt he needed to straighten out his priorities. I disagree with Kessler in that I don’t think the problem is so much that he hates his children as much as it is what the children represent. I find the children to be representative of the question, how is he going to survive and provide a life for all of them when he is losing his life for them and his mind. I think this speaks to the temporary insanity, not any type of true hatred for his children. Nor do I think the man was cursed as he felt he was in the poem for hating his children. I think when you lose what you perceive to be “everything” you lose your mind and one would feel cursed if they were depressed.
Again, I find that the reaction to the loss of the sheep was a reaction to much more and shows what can happen to a man or person due to hard economic times and a changing world. He lost more than his sheep. He lost his way of life, stability, security, and he does not know what money shortages or food shortages may be ahead, as well as political changes. Kessler seems to have agreed with me on this point, as she wrote, “The death of his sheep could be interpreted as his slow but very real reality of the political system crumbling from under him.” This quote speaks to the changes occurring during Wordsworth tine, due to the industrial revolution and draws a parallel to what is happening today in terms of the economy including the unemployment rate, outsourcing of jobs, the housing market crash, our recent stock market crash. Kessler included the loss of jobs, the housing crises, and the debate over healthcare reform as changes in our society that can parallel the changes the man who lost his sheep in Wordsworth poem.While Kessler did not close on a positive note, I would like to try. I may be reaching but I would like to include the idea, that overall the man did do the right thing; as he sold his flock to feed his family. Just as things cycled then economically speaking and eventually improved, I would hope things will cycle for the U.S. as well. I believe Wordsworth would remind us that there is nature and we should be able to find contentment in that.
