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    Black Walnut Tree

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    Sandy Earle
    Mary Oliver's poem "The Black Walnut Tree" explores the emotionally complex relationship between a family and the black walnut tree in their yard. While the father works, the mother and daughter contemplate selling the tree to pay the mortgage, but they feel a strong symbolic and emotional attachment to it. Oliver uses tone, imagery, and symbolism to convey how cutting down the tree would feel like losing a family member to the women, as the tree's roots are deeply connected to both the land and their hearts. The tree represents something meaningful that the father left behind, and its presence helps define the family. Ultimately, the family's need to preserve their connection to the tree exceeds their financial needs.

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    Black Walnut Tree

    Uploaded by

    Sandy Earle
    2K views2 pages
    Mary Oliver's poem "The Black Walnut Tree" explores the emotionally complex relationship between a family and the black walnut tree in their yard. While the father works, the mother and daughter contemplate selling the tree to pay the mortgage, but they feel a strong symbolic and emotional attachment to it. Oliver uses tone, imagery, and symbolism to convey how cutting down the tree would feel like losing a family member to the women, as the tree's roots are deeply connected to both the land and their hearts. The tree represents something meaningful that the father left behind, and its presence helps define the family. Ultimately, the family's need to preserve their connection to the tree exceeds their financial needs.

    Original Description:

    An analysis of the black walnut tree poem,

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    Mary Oliver's poem "The Black Walnut Tree" explores the emotionally complex relationship between a family and the black walnut tree in their yard. While the father works, the mother and daughter contemplate selling the tree to pay the mortgage, but they feel a strong symbolic and emotional attachment to it. Oliver uses tone, imagery, and symbolism to convey how cutting down the tree would feel like losing a family member to the women, as the tree's roots are deeply connected to both the land and their hearts. The tree represents something meaningful that the father left behind, and its presence helps define the family. Ultimately, the family's need to preserve their connection to the tree exceeds their financial needs.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    2K views2 pages

    Black Walnut Tree

    Uploaded by

    Sandy Earle
    Mary Oliver's poem "The Black Walnut Tree" explores the emotionally complex relationship between a family and the black walnut tree in their yard. While the father works, the mother and daughter contemplate selling the tree to pay the mortgage, but they feel a strong symbolic and emotional attachment to it. Oliver uses tone, imagery, and symbolism to convey how cutting down the tree would feel like losing a family member to the women, as the tree's roots are deeply connected to both the land and their hearts. The tree represents something meaningful that the father left behind, and its presence helps define the family. Ultimately, the family's need to preserve their connection to the tree exceeds their financial needs.

    Copyright:

    Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
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    Bird 1

    Sandy Bird Beachy AP LIT P.2 August 13th, 2013 Black Walnut Tree Black Walnut Tree Decision In Mary Olivers The Black Walnut Tree, she conveys a very emotionally rooted and financially complex relationship between the tree and the family. While the father is working, the mother and daughter ponder on how to pay for the mortgage. While selling the tree would be a quick solution, the presence and symbolic and emotional attachment to its existence in their yard poses a problem. Oliver conveys the relationship between the tree and family through her use of tone, imagery, and symbolism. Throughout the poem there is a heavy use of words and phrases that add to the authors worried and contemplative tone. If the mother and daughter were to sell the tree, Oliver says they would, Crawl with shame (27). From the deep tone she uses the reader can infer that the women of the family understand the significance of the tree in their yard and how much it means to the father. The tree represents something meaningful the father has left behind in the backyard and their hearts. Similar to the effect the tone brings, Olivers imagery creates a view-able connection to how the tree defines who the family is. The greater need, even greater than money, lies in the families need to, dig and sow (19) in this tree that, swings through another year, of sun and

    Bird 2

    leaping winds, of leaves and bounding fruit (31-33). Olivers colorful word choice helps the reader understand the magnificence and the significance that the tree has over their home through imagery. The pictures presented evoke a feeling of need and conflict that the family feels for the black walnut tree. On an emotional and symbolic level Oliver connects the tree to being a part of who the women are. The tree moves in their blood (17). By making such a deep connection between the family and the tree it makes cutting it down seem more meaningful like cutting off a family member. The tree is so deeply rooted that its roots are in the cellar drains (11) which in turn symbolizes the roots in their hearts. By making this relationship symbolic the author emphasizes the importance of its presence. The way that Mary Oliver presents the relationship between the tree and family makes the reader feel like they are in the same position. The authors selective word choice flows well with the emotional and pondering tone. The author conveys the relationship through the use of tone, imagery, and symbolism.

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