"The Rainbow"

Part 1: Initial Essay

     In The Rainbow, D.H. Lawrence uses paradox, personification, and parallelism to entail the women's situation as one of struggle to discover what makes one man greater then another. She wants to go beyond the surface to the dull life the Brangwen men live and receive an education so she can live a life with more purpose.

     In the last paragraph the paradox is presented; one that power is not correlated in the ways that we commonly think. Lawrence states that she wants to know, "that which makes a man strong even if he be little and fail in body..."(58-59), expressing her wonder of what gives a man power, if it is not his size and stature. She wants desperately to go beyond the simple farming life that, "was enough for the men"(1), and enter an existence where she actually had strength, and power, not in the physical sense but mentally to give herself some control.In the last line she decides that it's, "a question of knowledge"(66), what she truly needs and wants overcome her sorry expectations is an education. In the time period it is typical that, "warmth and generating and pain and death did they know in their blood"(7-9), is what gave someone strength, the highest most people wanted to achieve was this shallow level of knowingness. But the woman in this passage believes in the paradox that there was something that lifted the, "dark and dry and small"(48) vicar, "above the common men as man is raised above the beast"(55-56). She believes that thing is knowledge and that is what she wants more than anything.

     Lawrence captures this want by using parallelism and personification. He writes that, "she craved to know. She craved to achieve this higher being"(56-57). The parallel of "she craved" starting both sentences emphasizes her deep desire. Lawrence also acknowledges that this thing that she craves "was not money nor power nor position"(61), clearly stating that it was not those things typically thought to place one person above another, he puts emphasis on what it is not in order to expel one's typical ideas. In speaking of the all powerful vicar, Lawrence says, " his soul was master of the other man's"(64-65). By personifying the soul he again takes us below the surface, expressing that this idea is one that sits deep beyond the traditional values of the time. Lawrence shows that knowledge is an unaccustomed want that holds the power most could not imagine.

     The paradox continues, for as the education will provide you with the upper-hand, it is not something to be seen, not something an outsider can perceive. In speaking of the husband Lawrence writes, "What power had the vicar over Tom Brangwen-none. Yet strip them and set them on a desert island, and the vicar was the master."(62-64) As powerful as knowledge is it is also understated, but when push comes to shove, it is what truly shows the difference between two people. The woman ultimately wants to capture this soulful, true power that will take her beyond the simple, expected life that is lived by the men of her family, and push her to a meaningful existence.

Part 2:
1. My essay was given a score of seven by Emily Schwitzgabel. In the first paragraph the thesis addressed the prompt, I brought up the literary devices and expressed what I thought the characterization of the woman was. As I went on into the body of my essay I told how the literary devices characterized the woman and her situation and used textual evidence well when backing up my claims. Throughout the entire essay I used sophisticated diction, but could have been more perceptive in my arguments. I mostly agree with this score. After the discussion we had in class, I definitely agree that I could have been more perceptive in my overall analysis. There were other elements used within the text that would have been better to examine in order to show a greater understanding of the passage. Overall the depth of understanding concerning the passage needed to be deeper.

2. In order to improve my essay I would first address the repetition of the word knowledge. I addressed knowledge as her ultimate desire, but didn't look specifically at the repetition of the word throughout the whole piece. In our class discussion we brought up the fact that the word knowing, or some form of it shows up 10 times in the short passage, which must be very important. Towards the beginning Lawrence talks about the things the men, "know in their blood"(8-9), but later goes on to say that the woman "craved to know"(56) what made the vicar above the men in her life, suggesting that what she wants is a higher knowledge, one that differs from the men's that will take her to a knew level. Knowledge is ultimately what she decides is what she needs, but she also expresses is it as, "the battle she heard...on the edge of the unknown"(37-38). Even though she knows what she wants she doesn't know how to get it, in describing the desire as unknown, a paradox is presented in that she craves knowledge, but needs some knowledge in order to discover how to gain the knowledge she wants. There's the sense that even though she knows what she wants she doesn't really have anyway of getting it.

     I would also want to go into the contrast between the woman and the men more, I mentioned that the men were content with a simple understanding of life, but the woman wanted to go deeper, but didn't really look into that contrast anymore. Towards the beginning the contrast is very evident as it says "she faced outwards"(22-23), but "the Brangwen men faced inwards"(27-28). The men were happy with their simple life of farming that allowed them to get by, and didn't feel any want or need to look for anything more, while the woman wanted desperately to look beyond that simple life. There's more contrast as she was, "looking out...from the front of her house"(30-31), and, "her husband looked out to the back"(32). While the husband only cares to look at his land and that which he knows and is familiar with, the woman looks out into the unknown, the world that holds somewhere that knowledge that she craves. The men are fine with being stagnant in their life and what they do, but the woman feels a need to go beyond complacency to something greater.

     Lastly I would identify the literary device of polysyndeton in the piece. Lawrence uses polysyndeton in multiple places, first as he says, "So much warmth and generating and pain and death did they know in their blood"(7-9). Here we see him put emphasis on these simple things related to the work the men do, and how big of an impact that is on their life. It also relates to Lawrence's definition of "blood knowledge" that we had talked about in class, in that this is what they know deep inside them and that is all they need to know; for the men to live, all they need is to accept and understand these things. Polysyndeton is also present when comparing the vicar to the Brangwen men, and how the vicar is, "dark and dry and small"(48), in comparison. Again it is used for emphasis, focusing on the differences between the men and the knowledgeable vicar, enhancing the paradox of knowledge. Even though it would seem that the vicar should have no power over the men with those characteristics, he is the one who truly is above the rest.