The female character expresses that she wants to be protected before her and the narrator proceed in their encounter. The narrator expresses that by her saying that she wants to be protected first causes him to feel like she is not interested in him and that she does not trust him. The reader is able to see that he feels a sense of guilt when he states, "the terrible thing i must be," when he is trying to figure out the reason why she is so hesistant to be "unprotected" when she is with him. However, he feels that she is not afraid of the possibility of having children, but afraid of him. What is it that she wants to be protected from if it is not the fear of having children?
The narrator pays extremely close attention to the actions that the female character does while she is away from him. He notices that she fumbles around in the bathroom with different things. He accounts for her every move until she is back with him in the bed. After she is with him in the bed, he says,
What do you think is the significance of writing "to love" twice? What do you think is the significance in the title of the poem and what perception do you gather about the poem as a whole?"and I am vulnerableto lovei am not protectedi am vulnerable to loveto love"
I feel like I can't really relate to this poem. The poem as a whole makes me feel uncomfortable, as though I'm intruding on somebody else's experience that I have no part in. The woman who is flat on her back is in nature's most vulnerable position, and it makes me wonder whether or not she's submitting in this way because she doesn't know what else to do, or if it's because she, in this physical position, requires at least a little protection.
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ReplyDeleteLike Ally, I cannot personally relate to the poem either. However, I think that the word, “unprotected” definitely has multiple meanings in this particular poem. I feel that she may also be afraid of the vulnerability of catching a sexually transmitted disease from the narrator, being naked, and/or having sexual intercourse in general. Unlike pregnancy which can be aborted, transmitting certain sexually transmitted diseases, such as AIDS/HIV, can have life-long effects, including fatality, for an action that was done within a few short minutes. The female character may know these possible consequences of having sex and is disinclined to be in a rush to do it. In terms of nudity, because an individual is showing every part of his or her self, every scar and anatomical imperfection, being naked is an incredibly vulnerable thing to be. She may be hesitant to show these aspects of herself to the narrator. In addition, having sexual intercourse is an extremely intimate, personal, and vulnerable action that brings with it a variety of emotions. Perhaps, the idea of having sex with the narrator makes her reluctant and frightened, not necessarily of him but of the thought of having sex with him.
ReplyDeleteI also noticed the repetition in the last two lines. I believe that “I am vulnerable to love/to love” means that the narrator is susceptible to loving the female character emotionally without necessarily having sex with her as well as prone to love her sexually, which can but does not always come in the act of having sexual intercourse.
I agree. This poem is kind of dark in my point of view. The word “love” appears many times in the whole poem, but the feeling is so strange that no one will recognize it as a sweet love poem. The sentence “I’m vulnerable to love, to love” repeats two times and adds more hypocritical feelings. Maybe this poem is too hard for me to understand because I don’t have such kind of experiences. I feel uncomfortable with it, either. The “love” describes in the poem is not love I think.
ReplyDeleteI agree, I think it is a very personal poem. As Ally said the women is in a very vulnarable position. Not only physically but mentally as well. When you choose to love someone you make yourself vulnarable to them. If you feel that strongly about a person then they have the abillity to hurt you. I feel that there is a certain amount of trust that needs to be in a relationship and a violation of that trust can be very hurtful to a person. However, the risk of vulnarablity is one that a person must accept if they feel so strongly about someone.
ReplyDeleteI believe that it is not that the woman has a fear of him nor does she have a fear of having children, but that when she has unprotected sex she is completely exposing herself and therefore she no longer has any sense of herself. I do not think that she is ready to give herself completely and it is not because she does not love him but just because she is scared of losing herself in the process. However, I think that the narrator feels as though that is a slap in the face to him because as we saw he wrote "to love" twice which is also allowing himself to be vulnerable and he is giving himself completely to her. I do not think he should feel that way though because the woman is not saying that she does not love or trust him, she is simply saying she is nervous about losing herself to him.
ReplyDeleteI agree that this poem is very personal, it is giving us a sneek peak in to a private encounter. Usually sex, is something that one does not talk about a lot because it is intimate and meant to be private. The poem also made me a little uncomfortable. I agree with what was said above, how the unprotection could refer to vulnerability or to the sex itself. When a woman lies flat on her back she is in a weak position with not much control. Its no wonder that she may feel scared or worried. Also, the unprotection could refer to unprotected sex, or that she is unprotected against the feelings that correspond with sex. Perhaps she is uprepared in general.
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