Sydney's+Analysis

Sydney' Analysis of Freeway 280

The poem //Freeway 280// by Lorna Dee Cervantes can be interpreted in many ways but a common theme throughout most interpretations is the fact that the poem is comparing two types of life or states of humanity: urban and rural. This could be understood on the scale of one person’s life and their personal struggle but it also cloud be interpreted as a large scale commentary on modern civilization and it’s effect on nature. I interpret the poem on a larger scale, as if it is speaking about people and nature as a whole. Freeways are often used as a metaphor for civilization because they are fairly new, large, and often do cover nature or cause nature to be destroyed. Right from the beginning, the freeway is portrayed as bad. “The freeway conceals it/ all beneath a raised scar.”(lines 4-5) This seems to say that the freeway as a disfigurement of the earth and therefore, that the earth in its natural form is better than civilization. This idea continues in the rest of the descriptions in the poem. For example, the speaker describes the sounds of the freeway as “Fake wind sounds of the open lanes.”(line 6) Also, the speaker reminisces, saying “Once, I wanted out, wanted the rigid lanes/ to take me to a place without sun.”(lines 16-17) All of these quotations demonstrate the rather flat and negative language used to describe the freeway and civilization. Unlike in the rest of the poem, there is no imagery, spanish, repetition, or other literary devices used to describe the freeway or civilization. This makes those parts seem bland compared to the vibrant descriptions of the house in the country. Unlike the descriptions of the freeway, the descriptions of the house and it’s gardens are full of literary devices and expressive language. Especially interesting is Cervantes’ use of Spanish. Even if you do not understand that meaning of the spanish words, they add a very interesting almost whimsical feeling to her description of the house and it’s gardens. This is especially prominent in these lines:

Albaricoqueros, cerezos, nogales… Viejitas come here with paper bags to gather greens. Espinaca, verdolagas, yerbabuena…(lines 11-13) The interesting, almost lopsided use of literary devices like Spanish, metaphors, similies, and repition in the poem expresses a preference for the house and nature over the freeway or civilization. Especially in the first stanza of the poem,

Las casitas near the gray cannery, nestled amid wild abrazos of climbing roses and man-held red geraniums are gone now. The freeway conceals it all beneath a raised scar.(lines 1-5)

the house is portrayed as good and as being destroyed by the freeway. This can be seen as saying that civilization is destroying nature. However, later on in the poem, in the second stanza, the speaker describes, in glowing terms, how the plants are persevering and growing back. The only place in the poem where the speaker seems critical of nature is in the third stanza. However, it seems to be a past emotion that is no longer felt. The speaker describes her wanting to leave by saying

Once, I wanted out, wanted the rigid lanes to take me to a place without sun, without the smell of tomatoes burning on swing shift in the greasy summer air.(lines 16-19)

The way the speaker says “once” seems to show that she does not feel that way anymore. This passage seems to be the speaker reminiscing about her former desire to leave this little house and garden which she now describes glowingly.  The speaker concludes the poem by expressing the dilemma of choosing between the two types of life and sticking with that choice once it had been chosen. The poem ends in a mournful, confused manner, leaving the reader with tumultuous feelings as they picture the predicament the speaker is facing. This ending fits the overall tone of the poem, as it is overall very confused and lonely. However, the poem is peppered with wonderful descriptions of the house and gardens in both Spanish and English. This makes the poem very intriguing and overall very thought provoking and captivating to read.

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