Evan Bare

The Use of Fear through Culture

In the human mind, language and culture are intertwined and create differences between people. Often these differences are minor, but sometimes they create tension and hatred between people. In Daddy and the Arrival of the Bee Box, Sylvia Plath uses language and culture as an emotional battle ground so she can conquer her feelings.
Sylvia’s poem Daddy uses culture and language to separate herself and her father. She calls him Nazi, where she was the Jew that was being tortured. In line 34 she says, “I began to talk like a Jew,” compared to her Nazi father. These two different cultures had a deep hatred for one another and is used to create a stark metaphor for Sylvia’s relationship with her father. Where Sylvia was peaceful, her father wanted power over her. This emotional turmoil continues, and in line 70 she says that, “the voices just can’t worm through.” This shows that even though her father can say things to make her feel better, she won’t listen to what he says because she doesn’t believe him. If she did, she would be dropping her guard for him to launch another attack. Eventually her hatred leads to resolution when in the last line she stands up for herself by saying, “Daddy, daddy, you bastard, I’m through.” The ideological differences of her and her father were settled, letting her continue with her life without him.
In comparison, The Arrival of the Bee Box is more about confusion between languages and cultural barriers. When the Bee Box arrives she doesn’t know what to do with it, but her confusion leads to fear. “It is the noise that appalls me most of all, /The unintelligible syllables,” (“The Arrival of the Bee Box” 17-18). She does not understand what the bees are saying so she becomes afraid of them. This fear about what is in the box is what she needs to conquer in the poem. It worries her because, with a new language comes a new culture. “I have simply ordered a box of maniacs.” (23) Due to the fact that she doesn’t understand their language or culture, she instantly assumes they must be maniacs. This makes her even more frightened because maniacs will kill for no reason in her mind. This new language and culture makes her fear what’s inside, and to gain stability she finally says, “Tomorrow I will be sweet God, I will set them free.” (35) By getting emotional stability about the box, she no longer hears what it truly resembles, the past.
When people don’t understand a language or culture, they begin to fear it. This type of fear is often called xenophobia, fear of that which is foreign or strange. Like all other fears, this is caused by differences or the unknown. Sylvia Plath uses this common type of fear in her poems to show how she is afraid of past events as well as her father. By the end of her poems she overcomes this fear to reach mental stability and regain her power.

Word Count: 513