Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Randall Jarrell's poem "The Lines" is a stark and poignant reflection on the dehumanizing effects of war and bureaucracy. Through the repetitive and methodical imagery of lines, files, and things, Jarrell captures the loss of individuality and humanity experienced by soldiers and, more broadly, by people reduced to mere numbers and objects in an impersonal system.

The poem opens with the depiction of "the centers' naked files" and "the basic line," immediately setting a tone of cold, bureaucratic efficiency. The soldiers stand outside in the "late or early darkness," waiting for basic necessities like meals, mail, or salvage. The repetition of "to form a line to form a line to form a line" emphasizes the endless, monotonous nature of their existence, where even the act of waiting becomes a dehumanizing routine.

Jarrell then delves into the transformation of men into "things," emphasizing their reduction to objects used up and discarded: "After the things have learned that they are things, / Used up as things are, pieces of the plain / Flat object-language of a child or states." This transformation is a powerful indictment of the ways in which institutions, whether governmental or military, strip individuals of their humanity, reducing them to mere components in a larger, indifferent system.

The imagery of lines continues as the poem describes the movement of these "things" through "trucks, through transports, to the lines / Where the things die as though they were not things." Here, Jarrell captures the brutal reality of war, where soldiers are transported to the front lines only to die anonymously, their individuality erased. The phrase "lie as numbers in the crosses' lines" underscores the tragic reduction of human lives to mere statistics in the aftermath of battle.

The poem shifts to the aftermath of war, with the "files that ebb into the rows / Of the white beds of the quiet wards." These lines of beds, where some soldiers are salvaged and others deemed useless, further emphasize the dehumanizing processes at work. The distinction between those who are "salvaged for their state" and those "remanded, useless, to the centers' files" highlights the arbitrary nature of bureaucratic decisions and the cold calculus of utility.

The culmination of the poem comes with the image of "the naked things, told they are men," lining up once more for "papers, pensions." This moment of bureaucratic recognition of their humanity is fleeting and superficial. However, the poem ends on a note of profound, albeit brief, liberation: "suddenly / The lines break up, for good; and for a breath, / The longest of their lives, the men are free." This final breath of freedom, though short-lived, is deeply significant. It represents a moment of reclaimed humanity and individuality, a brief respite from the relentless machinery of war and bureaucracy.

"The Lines" is a powerful critique of the dehumanizing forces at play in modern institutions. Jarrell's use of repetitive, methodical imagery and stark language effectively conveys the loss of individuality and the reduction of human beings to mere objects and numbers. The poem's conclusion, with its fleeting moment of freedom, underscores the enduring human desire for dignity and selfhood, even in the face of overwhelming systemic oppression.

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