Emma Krenzin-Blank

“It’s a Sad Diagnosis”: The War of the Animals

“And like the cat I have nine times to die” (Lady Lazarus 21). Often throughout Plath’s poetry animals are used as symbols of death or destruction. Typical animals are portrayed in a war-like nature and can paint images of evil. When considering that a cat “has nine times to die” the animal is looked upon in a sinister manner, alluding to its unnatural ability. Also, many bugs and less appealing animals are used to represent an image of disgust. Sylvia Plath uses animals throughout her poems to show negative feelings of danger or repulsion, often represented by typical pets such as a cat.
Average animals are often referenced in metaphors comparing human experiences to that of an unpleasant sensation caused by an animal. In particular Plath uses the image of a cat to reference death and fear. She describes the cat as having nine times to die, alluding to its representation of death itself. She paints a picture of this fear by saying, “They are opening like the mouth of some great African cat” (Tulips 59). While Plath is actually referring to tulips blooming in the spring, she uses a simile to describe them as dangerous animals. The image of the great African cat connotatively leaves the reader with a sense of horror at the “great African” beasts. Another typical animal Plath references is a dog. When picturing a dog, the first image that comes to mind is not one of a ferocious animal. However, Plath describes dogs with similar qualities of bloodthirsty wolves, hungry for a fight. In particular she says, “Condoning the beak, the claw, the grin of the dog/Yellow-haunched, a pack dog,/Grinning over its bone of ivory” (The Swarm 22-24). This passage shows the dog as a deadly animal that chews on bones of ivory. The terror that Plath creates when describing the normal pet is used to establish fear and trouble. When picturing a cat or a dog in Plath’s poetry a sense of danger envelopes the reader and alters their perception of innocence.
In particular, Plath’s warnings of danger are often described in a war-like atmosphere. The battles she depicts are not typical human skirmishes, but that of animals in the fray. The focus of The swarm is that of a chaotic fight, involving many animals such as the bees who had, “stings as big as drawing pins” (The Swarm 56). In this, Plath is using drawing pins as an allusion to swords, which the bees confronted each other with. The poem is a war between animals, showing that even creatures people think of a beautiful and ingenuous are evil in the end. Other animals are involved, including “a flying hedgehog, all prickles” which helps to add to the image of a battle between all animals (The Swarm 32). The fight can be thought of as alluding to human wars because of its Napoleonic references. Plath is using the sadness of a battle between animals to portray the reality of warfare. By using images of innocent creatures she is able to attract attention to the cruel details and death involved in war. In comparison, Plath states, “To the same place, the same face, the same brute” in Lady Lazarus to show that human qualities can be the same as a “brute” or an animal (53). All in all, the ferocity of the pure animals shows an immediate contrast to their typical nature and illustrates how dangerous they can be.
In addition to danger, Plath conveys a feeling of disgust when describing certain animals. Especially when discussing bugs she paints an image of revulsion. When describing herself attempting to die, Plath says they had to call for her, “And pick the worms off me like sticky pearls” (Lady Lazarus 42). The worms are used in a simile comparing them to pearls, a human-like necklace. By matching pearls to the worms Plath again uses animals to determine negative human qualities. The “sticky pearls” give a sickening image and make the reader dislike the awful bugs. In Stillborn, Plath describes babies as being dead, “though they have a piggy and a fishy air” (12). By depicting the babies as dead and then comparing to them to pigs and fish a pessimistic meaning behind the animals surfaces. The disgust that is felt when describing death passes on to the normal animals and gives the poem a tone of sadness. Consequently, by portraying the animals as unpleasant creatures Plath shows an off-putting side that makes the reader think negatively when imagining them.
Throughout Plath’s poetry animals can be seen as innocent and childlike. When evaluated closely however, the animals take shape of beasts meant to scare and disgust the reader. By alluding to death when describing certain animals, Plath gives the creatures a sadly feared label. When expressing qualities of human happiness, such as watching the flowers bloom Plath reverts their denotation, such as, “The tulips should be behind bars like dangerous animals” (Tulips 58). By stating that animals are dangerous and should be kept behind bars Plath concludes a deeper meaning that animals should be feared. A typically joyous image, animals are used to create sadness through destruction and disgust, “It’s a sad diagnosis” (Stillborn 1).