In Sylvia Plath’s poem, “Daddy”, Plath explores resentment, fear, and abuse in a father and daughter relationship. Throughout the poem, it is discovered that the narrator is describing a corrupt relationship with her father; comparing him to disturbing things such as a nazi, devil, Hitler, and eventually her husband. It is evident that the speaker is struggling to get over his memory and the destruction he brought in her life. The strong emotion of anger and fear of her father is presented in an unsettling way. By the end of the poem, readers can start to see the victims desire for real freedom from her father's wicked ways. Sylvia Plath uses literary devices such as metaphors and imagery to highlight the significance of the disturbing behavior and relationship the father had with the speaker.
The use of imagery within the poem gives a base that allows readers to imagine the appalling events in the speakers life. The speaker uses imagery to describe her father as a “ghastly statue with one gray toe” (Plath, 1962). Plath uses the word “ghastly” to emphasize the horror and fear he brought into her life. She describes the statue stretching from the atlantic to the pacific ocean. This gives readers a …show more content…
She states, “A cleft in your chin instead of your foot/But no less a devil for that” (Plath, 1962). The devil is normally depicted as a goat like animal with horns and hooves with clefts in them. She is clarifying that although he does not have a cleft in his foot, he is still like a devil to her. She continues on to say “No not/Any less the black man who/Bit my pretty red heart in two” (Plath, 1962). She uses the phrase “black man” to signify evilness, and contrasts it with the phrase “pretty red heart” to show the differences between the two. The father is seen as black, while the speaker is seen as pretty and red. This is another way of emphasizing to readers that she was a victim of her evil