Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Anne Sexton’s poem "The Surgeon" is a striking exploration of the intimate and almost invasive relationship between a patient and their surgeon. The poem navigates the complex emotions surrounding a surgical procedure, capturing the vulnerability, dependency, and peculiar connection that forms in the operating room. Sexton’s characteristic blend of dark humor, introspection, and vivid imagery comes to the fore, making this poem a powerful meditation on the physical and emotional consequences of surgery.

The poem opens with a direct address to "Jack," the surgeon, whom the speaker simultaneously elevates and diminishes. "Jack, oh big Jack, / of the rack and the screw," the speaker begins, immediately invoking images of medieval torture devices, the "rack" and the "screw." These references are a potent reminder of the pain and terror often associated with surgery, positioning the surgeon as both a healer and a figure of fear. The use of "big Jack" initially suggests a figure of authority and power, someone who holds significant control over the speaker’s body.

However, the speaker’s perception of the surgeon shifts dramatically as the setting changes from the operating room to New York, where the surgeon seems "tinier." This contrast between the "big" Jack in the operating room and the "tinier" version of him outside it underscores the way context shapes our perception of authority figures. In the sterile, high-stakes environment of surgery, the surgeon looms large, wielding life-altering power. Outside that context, however, he is just another person, diminished by the everyday world.

The poem then returns to the setting of the surgery, where "Doctor Jack, / in your office, in the O.R.," is described as "unscrewing my hip." Here, Sexton uses the language of carpentry to describe the surgeon’s actions, likening the medical procedure to a mechanical or construction task. The speaker’s hip, a part of her body, is unscrewed and treated as though it were merely another component in need of repair. This metaphor effectively reduces the human body to a collection of parts, emphasizing the dehumanizing aspect of surgery, where the patient’s identity is secondary to the technical demands of the procedure.

The speaker’s use of the screw as a tool in her everyday life—"I stir my martinis with the screw, / four-inch and stainless steel"—is a darkly humorous reflection on the way the remnants of surgery linger in the patient’s consciousness. The screw, once part of her hip, has been repurposed into a mundane object, yet it still carries with it the weight of the surgical experience. The act of stirring a drink with it suggests an attempt to normalize or even trivialize the experience, yet the underlying discomfort is palpable.

Sexton’s focus on the hip, which "lay / for four years like a darkness," reveals the long-term suffering that preceded the surgery. The "darkness" metaphor encapsulates both physical pain and a sense of existential dread, as the hip becomes a symbol of the speaker’s struggle with her own body. The surgery, then, is not just a physical operation but also a moment of reckoning with this internal darkness.

The poem takes a more introspective turn with the lines, "Jack, oh big Jack, / would you like an ear or a finger / to keep of me?" Here, the speaker offers parts of her body to the surgeon, almost as trophies or mementos. This macabre suggestion highlights the intimacy and the sense of possession that the surgeon might have over the patient’s body, given the invasive nature of his work. It also reflects the speaker’s complex feelings about the surgery—there is a strange, almost perverse connection formed through the experience, where the patient wonders what part of her the surgeon might wish to keep, as if she has been reduced to mere parts.

The closing lines, "But what do you keep of me? / The memory of my bones flying / up into your hands," capture the crux of the poem’s exploration. The speaker questions what the surgeon retains of her, not in the physical sense but in terms of memory or impact. The imagery of bones "flying / up into your hands" is both vivid and unsettling, suggesting a moment of profound vulnerability and surrender during the surgery. It raises the question of what remains after such an intimate, albeit clinical, encounter—what does the surgeon remember of the patient beyond the technical details of the procedure?

In "The Surgeon," Anne Sexton masterfully intertwines themes of vulnerability, the mechanization of the human body, and the unsettling intimacy of surgery. The poem’s structure, with its shifting perceptions and dark humor, reflects the speaker’s attempt to grapple with the experience of being under the surgeon’s knife. Sexton’s vivid language and evocative imagery draw the reader into the complex emotional landscape of the poem, offering a poignant reflection on the ways in which we are altered, both physically and emotionally, by the hands of those who have the power to heal—or harm—us.

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