Anorexic Eavan Boland

The poem centers on the metaphor created by the persona, equating his body to that of a
witchs. The figure that the persona chose his body being a witch, tied the poem together and
set the tone for the subsequent images and dramatic situation. Ultimately, the poem was able to
depict an accurate portrayal of an anorexic person the figure setting the scene for the mindset
that a person would have when experiencing that kind of condition. In the first stanza, the
persona talks about his flesh being a heretic and taking its definition lexically, a heretic is
defined as one who dissents an established religious dogma. This can be equated to the persona
thinking that his flesh has gone against an established norm or tenet of society, and it can be
inferred that the persona has played into the set standards of beauty that society has established.
The persona doesnt think that his body meets the requirements of society and therefore
addressed it as a heretic. Remarkable as well is the idea that witches in the olden days were
thought to be at the height of heresy.
The figure of the witch and the persona burning this witch can also be likened to the fact
that the persona, aside from persecuting his body for its image, is also physically burning or
destroying his body by denying it food. The image that is formed of the witch is that of a
curvaceous woman who the persona is saying is trying to convince him of something or lying to
him that his body is acceptable. There is a certain self-deprecation and loathing that is implied in
the lines where the persona denies the witch and punishes her or his body by renouncing food
and good things embodied by the trope milk and honey. The next few lines talk about how the
anorexia has disenchanted the witch and has made her learn her lesson by vomiting. The image
is now of a skin and bone persona who still constantly refers to the witch in a derogatory way.
The witch as a heretic figure comes into play again since the persona refers to the act of going
foodless as being sinless for a few days. The dreams of the persona are a kind of paradox, being
that it was said that there was an enclosure and a sense of claustrophobia but the persona
conversely states after that it was warm and wide. Here it can be seen that the persona seems to
be bouncing from this self-deprecating person during times of insecurity, he is aware of these
things happening, and slips back into normalcy once this bout of insecurity has passed. Towards
the end, it can be implied that the persona boxes himself in this anorexic persona as a sort of
safety blanket, wherein being anorexic makes him forget a past happening that has wounded him.
It is his way of being sure of what and where he is in an otherwise sin-filled world.