Poetry Exam: Charles Bukowski’s “Spark”
Poetry Exam: Charles Bukowski’s “Spark”
1) Suggest at least 2 reasons why the persona “resented all the years (as a) working stiff.”
Working stiff: “an ordinary person” working a lowly, degrading, or boring job. The persona resented all the years as a “working stiff” because Charles had no motivation and wasted his life away working a degrading job. In the beginning of the first stanza, “I couldn’t understand the murdering of my years” suggests how much he valued his time; he had no choice but to have that same daily routine to make ends meet at the of the day. In addition, he felt immensely hopeless because “[his] fellow workers gave no signs of agony / many of them even seemed satisfied.” The workers were content with a very ordinary, dull life; he had to accept what felt like reality.
2) Discuss the imagery (in particular, stanzas 2 & 3.) How are the employees described? How is time described? What does this suggest about the person’s attitude toward work?
In stanza two to three the speaker implies the workers were robots, lifeless, or even slaves. “The workers submitted. / the work pounded them to nothingness, they were scoop-ed out and thrown away.” The allusion of these lines speaks so vigorously to me and has so much depth; as if the workers are worthless and their purpose of life is simply to work. Time is described like it passed by extremely slow. Charles valued his time but every moment he worked felt like torture, and he had the same routine for decades therefore he considered suicide.
3) Virtually every poem has symbolic aspects. Clearly, the “spark” is symbolic of something(s.) What? Explain. What do you think Bukowski’s “spark” may have been? Why? What’s your spark? Do you have one?
The speaker suggests that Bukowski’s “spark” is hope. He was extremely demotivated how he wasted decades of his life being a “working stiff” and no direction in life. There were so many restrictions in his life because of work, especially a
1) Suggest at least 2 reasons why the persona “resented all the years (as a) working stiff.”
Working stiff: “an ordinary person” working a lowly, degrading, or boring job. The persona resented all the years as a “working stiff” because Charles had no motivation and wasted his life away working a degrading job. In the beginning of the first stanza, “I couldn’t understand the murdering of my years” suggests how much he valued his time; he had no choice but to have that same daily routine to make ends meet at the of the day. In addition, he felt immensely hopeless because “[his] fellow workers gave no signs of agony / many of them even seemed satisfied.” The workers were content with a very ordinary, dull life; he had to accept what felt like reality.
2) Discuss the imagery (in particular, stanzas 2 & 3.) How are the employees described? How is time described? What does this suggest about the person’s attitude toward work?
In stanza two to three the speaker implies the workers were robots, lifeless, or even slaves. “The workers submitted. / the work pounded them to nothingness, they were scoop-ed out and thrown away.” The allusion of these lines speaks so vigorously to me and has so much depth; as if the workers are worthless and their purpose of life is simply to work. Time is described like it passed by extremely slow. Charles valued his time but every moment he worked felt like torture, and he had the same routine for decades therefore he considered suicide.
3) Virtually every poem has symbolic aspects. Clearly, the “spark” is symbolic of something(s.) What? Explain. What do you think Bukowski’s “spark” may have been? Why? What’s your spark? Do you have one?
The speaker suggests that Bukowski’s “spark” is hope. He was extremely demotivated how he wasted decades of his life being a “working stiff” and no direction in life. There were so many restrictions in his life because of work, especially a