The Theme Of Poem Keeping Things Whole - Summary - Questions and Answers - Magic Of The Words

Keeping Things Whole

Points to Understand

•   People usually have tendency of looking at things as their parts.

•      People ignore the wholeness and view only fragments.

•      They miss the complete wholeness.

•      The poet has given an example that when we go to the field,we only view the fragments such as sand, stones, mud and plants.

•      We miss the complete image of field.

•      When we view our self, we see different parts such as Head, eyes, faces, feet, limbs and so on.

•      We ignore the complete image of human beings.

•      The poet views that we find ourselves missing everywhere.

•      In the field, the poet feels the absence of the field.

•      While walking, he divides the air and the air moves in to fill the gap occupied by his body.

•      People in general move for different purposes.

•      They only view the fragment of their purpose. They even try to see the parts of even the air.

•      The poet moves to keep things whole.

•      He supports the idea of wholeness.

•      His purpose of moving is different.

•      He not only looks at the parts but also the complete structure of the things.

•      The poet requests us to see the things as a whole.

SUMMARY

Mark Strand’s “Keeping Things Whole” pleads for (request for) wholeness against the usual fragmentation (parts) that goes on in everyday life. People in general have the habits of looking at things as parts. They always miss the complete wholeness. We ignore the wholeness and view only fragments (parts). For example, when we go to the field, we view the fragments such as sand, stones, mud, plants, etc. and we miss the wholeness of the field. When we view ourselves, we see heads, eyes, faces, bodies, feet, limbs, hands and other different parts. However, we miss the wholeness of human beings.

The poet finds himself missing everywhere. In the field, he views himself as the absence of field. While walking, he feels that he divides the air and the air moves in to fill the gaps occupied by his body. In the backdrop of the poem, the poet views himself as the one who keeps the things whole. He says that people in general move for different purposes. They ignore the complete wholeness and they view only the fragmentation. They try to see the parts of even the air. While walking, they feel they have divided the air into fragments. They miss themselves everywhere. The poet, however, says that his purpose of moving is different. He moves not to view the things as parts but to keep the things whole. He is against the usual fragmentation and supports the idea of wholeness.

        1.   Interpret the poem "Keeping Things Whole".

ü Mark Strand's "Keeping Things Whole" pleads (appeals/ request) for wholeness against the usual fragmentation that goes on in life. The poet doesn't find himself in the field. Wherever he goes, he finds that it is only he who is missing. While walking, the poet divides the air. When he moves, the air fills the spaces (gaps) occupied by his body. The poet says that he moves to keep the things whole.

            2.   Why do we all move? Why does the poet move?

ü We all move for different purposes. While moving, we see things not as a whole but as parts. As we have the habit of looking at things as different parts, we always miss the wholeness. When we look at ourselves, we find heads, bodies, legs, hand and other different parts. We, however, miss the wholeness of human being. But, the poet always looks at the wholeness. He moves to keep things whole