what is the theme of the poem 'the cold within' by James Patrick Kinney
Answers
The poem, “The Cold Within” is based upon the central theme of discrimination. The poet here has beautifully depicted different forms of discrimination through his seven characters.
Apart from this obvious theme of the poem, the other theme that is worth noting is hatred. Each character hates the other characters and hence, fails to take action to save the life of others or of the self alike.
Another theme that surfaces in the poem is that of revenge. One who has been a victim of discrimination, himself turns into an abuser when given the opportunity; the instance of the black man holding back his log so as to spite the white.
Similarly, selfishness can also be considered to be one of the many themes of the poem. Each individual is selfish enough to part with their log, as they are more concerned about not helping others than save themselves.
Cold is also a recurring theme in the poem. However, cold in the context of the poem holds two meaning; one at a surface level which refers to the cold weather whereas, at a deeper level the poet uses the word “cold” to refer to the cold hearts of each individual.
Similarly again, fire, another theme of the poem also has two meanings; one refers to the fire created by burning woods to generate heat while the other meaning signifies the fire of humanity inside every individual. The term “fire” in the poem can also be considered to mean the American nation which was slowly dying under the pressure of all sorts of discrimination prevalent at the time of African American Civil Rights Movement.
Answer:
It is a narrative poem written by James Patrick Kinney an American poet.
Six humans are trapped in the cold. They are sitting around a fire which is dying shortly. Each one of them has a log of wood. But none of them give up their logs and revive the dying fire because they have some prejudice in their mind which they are unable to overcome. Ultimately the fire dies out and they too freeze to death still clutching the logs.
Explanation:
In first stanza the poet takes us into the midst of the action about the 6 humans trapped in the cold and each having sticks of wood. Here poet used humans not people or a group, because as a species we are all equal in the eyes of the creator. Humans discriminate each other but not the creator.
In the second stanza, poet explains about the dying fire. As the fire began to die, it was necessary to add logs, but the first woman held hers back that she refused to give it to the fire because she saw that there was a black man among them. She could not bear to see the black man benefit because of her contribution.
In third stanza, poet explains about the next man being intolerant about a person who was not of the same religion as him.
In fourth stanza, poet explained about the poor man who thought
of a rich man being beneficial to the log of the poor.
Next line explained about the rich man who didn't want to give away his log to some lazy poor person who had no goals as the rich man had earned it through his efforts.
The black man's eye saw the fire being dying but his mind was thinking of the revenge for the mistreatment he suffered from the white. His log had a potential to save every human amongst them, but the black man thought that log is for the use to hurt the white man.
The last man had some other thoughts. Although there were 6 people, none had given away their logs. The last man had an extremely materialistic transactional approach. He would give to those who had given in return to him.
Their logs were held tight even when they were frozen to death.
They did not die from the cold, they died from the cold within.
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