Chanakan Jindachotsiri Nadia 1202

On To a Poor Old Woman

The action of eating a plum reflects the womans poverty in William Carlos Williams

poem To a Poor Old Woman. The poem written in 1935 shows the modernism clearly

because the poem is simple and against the traditional perspectives about women and fruits.

Traditionally, the appearance of women is both young and beautiful. In addition, fruits are

used as a symbol to represent sex. However, in this poem, it mentions about a woman who is

not only poor but also old. Furthermore, the plum stands for a fruit. In the text it says, the

woman is sitting, munching a plum (1) and saying repeatedly that They taste good to her

(4). Williams establishes poverty of the woman through the plum. Plums are not especially

expensive fruits, but eating a plum is a rare treat for her because she consistently emphasizes

that a plum is good throughout the poem. Moreover, munching suggests a sense of hunger

because it is an action of devouring. Subsequently, chewing loudly is not a polite behavior of

upper classes. To elaborate, wealthy people or middle class always be instructed about

manners about eating because they need to socialize. On the other hand, most of poor people

do not teach those manners because it is unnecessary.