Poem Analysis

The poems White Dwarfs by Michael Ondaatje and Ariel by Sylvia Plath explore the
theme of death, albeit in two different ways. The poets employ different elements of style and
figures of speech to express their ideas on death. In White Dwarfs, Ondaatje starts by
emphasizing that he is writing about “people who disappear.” Ondaatje’s diction makes it hard
for the audience to establish that he is talking about death. It only becomes apparent towards the
end of the first stanza. The poet creates a blend of the metaphorical and the physical in
explaining how the people transform. The people are able to do certain extraordinary things, such
as “tear themselves through the eye of a needle.” The use of the tone in this context is
melancholic. The poet writes about self-destruction and a sense of sacrifice, all embedded in one
line.
Similarly, in Ariel, Plath explores the subject of death and suicide. The first depicts a
woman riding a horse. Upon reading the poem, it becomes apparent that Plath is the female rider
in the poem. She refers to herself as “God’s lioness.” She disowns her own humanity and
identifies with the masculinity of the horse. Death in the poem is metaphorical more than
physical. She dies from her own self. Here, Plath talks about self-destruction, but in a way that
differs from Ondaatje’s. While Ondaatje employs a melancholic tone to talk about death, Plath
seems to be in a calm and relaxed tone. Self-destruction in her poem seems like a good escape
from certain what she deems as oppressive.
Further, Ondaatje uses a sense of anaphora to create an effect of space occupied by the
people who die or ‘disappear.’ There are directional binaries aimed to capture the paradoxical
marginal position that they occupy in space. The poet writes, “This is for people who disappear.”

In line 7, the poet writes, “this is for those people.” Death is depicted as both transformative as
well as alienating. Those who occupy those positions in space, or in other words, those who die,
are different in the sense that they are alienated.
Unlike Plath, Ondaatje is not the persona in the poem. Death does not occur from the
perspective of the poet but rather from the perspective of the person. In the second stanza,
Ondaatje introduces the persona. For the first time, there is the use of first-person. The persona
expresses fear; it is a fear of “falling without words.” The fear expressed here is eternal and
endless. Thus, even in death, fear still follows those who ‘disappear.’ However, there is also
heroism. Even in death, the heroes are those who “sail to that perfect edge.” For death to occur,
heroism is needed. Ondaatje asserts that social rejection is necessary for people to experience
space. People must be willing to separate themselves from the familiar spaces, and embrace what
they are not familiar with, space. Those that reject society transcend and go into space.
Plath talks of a different kind of transcending, one where an individual must depart from
their inner selves and race a different ‘being.’ Plath transcends her gender. Her transcendence is
neither sad nor violent. She does not include destruction in her view of gender. She does not aim
to destroy the male gender by transcending her female gender. On the contrary, the
transformation lies outside of gender. Plath depicts women as unable to achieve a lot. They are
not vibrant and are cold. On the contrary, when she refers to herself as ‘God’s lioness,’ she
identifies with the animal kingdom. This, according to her, is alive. It gives her an animal instinct
and is thus devoid of judgment.
Overall, while both Plath and Ondaatje talk about death, they do so in different ways.
Plath talks about death by suicide. It is a choice and a death that is longed for and desired. It is a
decision that she makes to die from her ‘self’ and embrace an animal identity. She uses animism

to depict how she loses her quotidian life and consequently, by choice, achieves a new state. This
new form of transcendence by choice is different from what Ondaatje talks about. Ondaatje
describes a form of death that is compelled. It is not death by choice, nor is it suicide. While
transcendence takes place, it is not in the desired way. The new space that is occupied by those
who disappear does not seem appealing. It does not offer any advantages. Plath, in her new
space, is able to achieve much more. In fact, the new space, according to Plath, is one where
there is vibrancy and life. On the contrary, the new space described by Ondaatje is characterized
by silence. People disappear. It is like life as it is known ends. Thus, while the two poets talk
about the same subject matter, they do so in two very different ways, and this is evident even in
their use of language and style.