Siren Song Margaret Atwood Analysis

This sample essay on Siren Song Margaret Atwood Analysis provides important aspects of the issue and arguments for and against as well as the needed facts. Read on this essay’s introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion.

She is assigned by gods to stay on a secluded island along with two other Sirens, with nothing to do but Obey her duty of enchanting sailors over and over again. Deprived of liberty to break free from this restraining position, the Siren expresses her exasperation and frustration, and requests help from the reader.

However, as the poem unfolds, her cry for help turns out to also be a trick to lure unassuming men to her rescue. At the end of the day, she is unable to leave her designated role.

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Through the depiction of a desperate Siren, the writer is hinting at the difficulties faced by women in real life as well. Women are constrained by plenty of societal expectations and roles imposed upon them, just like the Sirens.

For instance, in the workplace, it is less common and expected for women to take on advanced or managerial positions; in the household, they are the housekeeper and caregiver; in a romantic relationship, they are expected to be submissive and visually pleasant, etc. It can be difficult and frustrating to break free from these expectations.

The poem is about the distress a woman experiences about being stuck in a designated role and trying to break free. This distress is caused by the reluctance of having to give up the mental comfort provided by following her ole, the fear of betraying her group, and the lack of ability and means to break free from her designated role. Firstly, although part of the speaker wants to be liberated from her fixed role, she is reluctant to abandon the sense of comfort and fulfillment she feels from excelling at her job.

What Is A Siren Song

On one hand, she yearns to rebel against societal expectations in pursuit of individuality and freedom, protesting against “looking picturesque and mythical” (1 S). The word “picturesque” (15), meaning visually charming and suitable for a painting, shows that she doesn’t ant to be evaluated based on her outward appearance like a painting and that she detest being stationery and silent, unable to act upon her free will, but can only be subject to other people’s judgment like a decoration.

Moreover, looking “mythical” (15) means being perceived as mysterious and fictitious, like a myth. It shows the speaker is irritated that people perceive her as just a typical character from a myth, instead of a real person with real emotions and desires. She also feels that her struggle is dismissed and invalidated by others as if it is fictitious and unreal. As a result, she lets out “a cry for help” (22), a fertilization that indicates severe mental distress and the need for help. It shows she is determined and willing to actively seek help from others in order to break free.

She demands the reader to take her away from her job, where her opinions and desires go unheard, and her individuality unappreciated. However, she also finds satisfaction in the fact that she never fails to do her designated job. One can detect a hint of pride and delight when she declares that her song is one that “everyone ‘would like to learn” (1, 2), one “that is irresistible” (3). Being “irresistible” means that song is overpowering and difficult to resist from, and shows that the speaker is confident about her strong capabilities at doing her job. Irresistible” can also mean lovable and provoking protective love, showing that she is confident about being able to summon such feelings from others. By fulfilling her assigned duty, the speaker finds a sense of purpose and self-worth. This mental comfort is indispensable to the speaker, when we consider that she lives in a very isolated and depressing environment. She becomes dependent n the mental comfort resulted from fulfilling her duty according to societal expectations, making it more difficult to challenge these expectations.

Her reluctance to challenge conformity is also related to the nature of her job: she lures the men to death by persuading them they are unique. The speaker wants to believe that she is different and able to achieve things that are not expected of her, but she is also aware that this self-complacent belief is exactly what leads her victims to their demise. Consequently, the speaker is troubled by the desire to be different and the reluctance to do so, and eventually remains haunted by agony.

Secondly, the Siren in the poem is constrained by a fear of betraying her group, despite her desire to break free from her role. According to the original Greek tale, the Sirens are instructed to stay on a desolate and secluded island amidst the vast ocean, with no visitors other than the sailors whom they are required to drown. The Sirens only have each others company in such a lonesome place. The speaker is aware of her position as a group member and the importance of her role by acknowledging that she is a part of a “trio” (18). A trio is a musical composition of three voices or instruments.

To form such a composition, different voices or instruments are required to cooperate with each other and perform according to the music score so as to create one coherent, harmonious sound. This can be a metaphor for womanhood, where women with different abilities and wishes feel the necessity to adhere to a certain pattern of behavior, so as not to disturb the overall impression women as a group is expected to present. The speaker also calls the trio “fatal and valuable” (18). “Fatal” means deadly, implying the power possessed by the speaker.

It also means vitally important, showing the importance of behaving as a part of a large group. The word “valuable” means both having qualities worthy of respect and being able to be valued. This word shows that the “trio”, the expected image of women as a whole, is held in great esteem and importance. It is also subject to other people’s evaluation. If the speaker escapes, she will risk destroying the established image of her group and bring disturbance. Therefore, the speaker chooses inaction out of fear of the consequences her rebellion will bring upon ere group.

Besides, throughout the poem there is no mention of the other Sirens’ feelings and thoughts. The speaker is unsure or even doubtful of her companions’ stance, and implies their mindset is different from hers by calling them “maniacs” (16). A maniac can mean an insane person. In this case, the speaker shows that she fails to comprehend the intentions of her peers and resorts to calling them insane. The word “maniac” can also mean an overly enthusiastic person, meaning that the speaker thinks her peers are too zealous in fulfilling their roles and she secretly condemns them for it.

Under this circumstance, she is unable to voice her discontent without risking being rejected and isolated by her companions. F-righted by the prospect of further isolation from her peers, the speaker chooses not to rebel, and thus remains in a state of despair. Thirdly, even if the speaker resolves to leave her designated role and seek other opportunities, she lacks the ability and means to do so. She does not know, and is not expected to know, anything else apart from “the one song’ (1) that she uses to lure men.

The emphasis on ‘the one song’, instead on ailing it “the song”, implies that there is only one single song that the speaker can use. She cannot choose which song to sing because she only knows one. She also finds the song “boring’ (26). “Boring” means dull and tediously repetitive. The speaker repeats her song so tediously to the point it fails to impress her anymore. It is also implied that she has already fully mastered what she is supposed to perform through repetition, however there is nothing else for her to learn to do, otherwise she would not be complaining about having to sing the same old song all the time.

Moreover, the speaker ever refers to the song as “my song’, but “the song’ (4, 7) even though it is she who sings it, as if distancing herself from it, implies that the speaker did not decide what to perform herself. Someone else decided what she should do, and she is trapped in the misery of repeating the same routine with nothing else to learn. This is similar to the situation faced by plenty of women. For example, many women are deprived of advanced education as girls by their parents because of the traditional belief that girls do not need as much education as boys, since girls are expected to become housewives one day.