Identity In Frost, Kincaid, and Wilson

Though Robert FrostÆs ôDesignö is a poem, Jamaica KincaidÆs ôGirlö is a short story, and August WilsonÆs ôThe Piano Lessonö is a play, all three of these works are similar in trying to demonstrate the difficulties in finding meaning and individual identity in life.

In ôDesign,ö Robert FrostÆs (1) speaker observes nature. Specifically, he observes a spider that is ôfat and whiteö on a ôwhite heal-allö that is going about its morning ritual of killing an insect, in this case a ômoth / Like a white piece of rigid satin clothö (Frost 1). The speaker wonders what brought together the spider, flower, and moth. He wonders ôWhat brought the kindred spider to that height, / Then steered the white moth thither in the night?ö (Frost 1). The speaker imagines that the heal-all flower, the spider, and the moth were either brought together by sheer coincidence or from the ôdesign of darkness to appallö (Frost 1).

The speaker in the poem is trying to figure out if there is any meaning to lifeÆs order or ôIf design govern in a thing so small,ö (Frost 1). Even if there is a higher power, perhaps ôGodö, who designs such things, this particularly situation expresses a God that does not seem all-powerful or all-good, since the moth, flower, and spider as associated with ôdeath and blight,ö ôa witchesÆ broth,ö and the act of the merciless murder of the moth is a design of ôdarkness to appallö (Frost 1). In other words, even if ther

. . .
Some common words found in the essay are:
Willie Boy, Jamaica KincaidÆs, Robert FrostÆs, Christians Likewise, Viewed Nov, Piano Lessonö, African Americans, Berniece Berniece, frost 1, willie boy, Boy Charles, 1 speaker, Piano Lesson, kincaid 1, frost 1 speaker, heritage culture, govern smallö frost, african americans, identity life, individual identity, viewed nov 24, viewed nov, nov 24, ôif design govern, design govern smallö,
Approximate Word count = 975
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page)

More Essays on Identity In Frost, Kincaid, and Wilson