Brandewie's Blog

Adrienne Rich’s poem “The Burning of Paper Instead of Children” is an abstract look of literature in actual circumstances. The poem takes a look at Literature in somewhat of a negative light. So many times in today’s literature is glorified, “The Burning of Paper Instead of Children” takes a different view on literature. The Rich has the opinion that literature is useless because it does not solve anything. In the poem she says, “What happens between us, has happened for centuries, we know it from literature, still it happens.” (Rich 3) This leads to one of the major themes of the poem, action over theory. To talk or write about tragedies or good things in the world does not impact the world at all. Rich shows the crime of language. It does not liberate people, rather oppresses action in the world. Another theme in the poem is peace and serenity. Rich looks back at a time before language and literature. She explains it as a “time of silence of few words, a time of chemistry and music” (Rich 1). Appeals to the reader by using the ideas of peace, music, and chemistry to show the positives of the world before language entered. It is an interesting view because many times the conflicts that engross many peoples’ lives are over such trivial problems. Rich does not agree with many of the thought and conflict that is brought up in literature.