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Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained | |||
"Anorexic" by Eavan Boland is a stark and harrowing portrayal of the struggle with anorexia, presenting the body as a battleground where issues of control, self-denial, and identity are fiercely contested. The poem is not only an exploration of the physical effects of the eating disorder but also delves into the psychological torment and complex emotions experienced by the speaker. The opening lines, "Flesh is heretic. / My body is a witch. / I am burning it," immediately set a tone of conflict and self-punishment. The speaker equates her body to something sinful and heretical that must be purged through fire, a historical method of punishing those deemed witches. This metaphor powerfully conveys the violence the speaker feels toward her own body, a violence fueled by a desire for purity and perfection. As the poem progresses, the speaker describes the process of self-denial as a form of self-torture, "torching / her curves and paps and wiles." The language used here is striking, with "curves and paps and wiles" suggesting femininity and sensuality, which the speaker is attempting to annihilate in a quest for a certain ideal. The renunciation of "milk and honey / and the taste of lunch" speaks to a rejection of nourishment and pleasure, as the speaker metaphorically "vomits / her hungers." This act of purging is both literal, as in the physical rejection of food, and symbolic, representing a deeper desire to expel undesirable aspects of the self. The line "Now the bitch is burning" reveals the speaker's internalization of a punishing, critical voice, viewing her own hunger and needs as something to be reviled and destroyed. The transformation into "skin and bone" is seen as a victory, a perverse learning of a lesson that has left her "starved and curveless." The poem shifts to explore the psychological landscape of anorexia, where dreams of "a claustrophobia / a sensuous enclosure" reveal a longing for warmth and intimacy, a stark contrast to the cold reality of the speaker's condition. The memories of being close to another person, "once by a warm drum, / once by the song of his breath," suggest a nostalgia for a time of connection and comfort, now lost to the illness. The aspiration to become "angular and holy / past pain" illustrates the distorted perception of self-denial as a path to sanctity, a common theme in the psychology of anorexia. The speaker's desire for holiness and transcendence through the denial of the body is a tragic misinterpretation of spiritual asceticism. Finally, the poem closes on a note of anticipated reintegration with the "him" mentioned earlier, as if through her suffering, the speaker will be able to return to a state of innocence and unity. However, this desired return is overshadowed by the recognition of a "fall / into forked dark," signaling an awareness of the destructive path she is on, characterized by "python needs" and the overwhelming physical desires for "hips and breasts / and lips and heat / and sweat and fat and greed." "Anorexic" is a powerful and intimate examination of the inner turmoil of living with an eating disorder, where the body becomes an enemy to be conquered, and the soul is caught in a relentless pursuit of an impossible purity. Boland's poem is a poignant reminder of the complex psychological dynamics at play in anorexia and the profound pain that lies at its core.
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