The Joy of Cooking
Elaine Margarrell
At first glace this poem seems to be cannibalistic, but with a deeper look, the poem could be interpreted into a very vivid metaphor addressing relationships amongst siblings. By addressing her "sister's tongue" and her "brother's heart", she is actually applying their body parts to their vices. It seems as if her sister's tongue is more so a sign of her gossiping, or rough vernacular than a tongue. Despite the speaker's energies to silence this rude language, it is "economical- it will probably grow back". Her brother's heart is addressed as dry, dull, and small. It needs " an apple-onion stuffing" to even be considered interesting. Nonetheless, it barely feeds two- it's small! She addresses their faulty attributes in such literal terms, that it seemed to the speaker that these might actually make a good meal. This poem reminded me a great deal of A Modest Proposal by Jonathon Swift, and like The Joy of Cooking, it is a satire that points out the indecencies of humanity through grotesque diction, surrounded by an overtone of cannibalism.
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