(Margaret Atwood's Poem) You fit into me you fit into me like a hook into an eye a fish hook an open eye?

Question

Margaret Atwood's Poem "You fit into me"
You fit into me
like a hook into an eye
a fish hook
an open eye

Can anybody explain to me more on this poem other than what I already have…

Magaret Antwood’s poem is short and simple. This amplifies the title “You fit into me”. The poem is fit for its title when it is short and sweet like it is.
She repeats “hook” and “eye” in the poem because that is what she means when she says “you fit into me. She explains how, and then you realise that is al she needs te say. She needs not explain it further because that is how it ‘fits’.

The reader of the poem can also give notice to the word “...fit...” in the first line and then to the shortness (smallness?) of the poem. ‘Fit’ is also asociated with the word ‘size’. Because big or small it has to fit.
The poem might of been written this short to make more of an impact and a stronger statement. One can memorize it just by reading it once. This is the impact it has on

Answer 1

The power of this poem is derived from an assumption that, for most younger people, is no longer true. At the time it was written (at or before 1971), most people would have taken the second line's simile to be referring to a particular type of fastener that was found everywhere from clothing to screen doors. (The most common place to find a hook and eye fastener these days is on the back strap of a brassiere.) In this sense, the eye is something that is manufactured to accept the hook (and vice-versa), so the joining of hook and eye is a fulfillment of purpose.

Contrast that fulfillment of purpose with the vivid image of a fish hook being inserted into an open eye - an action that is diametrically opposite the intended purpose of that hook in a violent and visceral way. That's how the author feels about the titular "you".

Answer 2

Hi there.

This is an interesting poem, isn't it? The title "You fit into me," suggests that it's going to be a romantic poem, an ode to love, doesn't it?

But wow, is that the kind of love you'd want? To have someone affect you like a fishinghook through your eye? Ouch. So right there, she has purposely undermined the reader's expectation. To Atwood, this love feels like a fish hook through the eye.

But look a little deeper. A fish hook is designed precisely to go through a fish, isn't it? (Though not necessarily through the eye, right? Normally, a fish would take the hook through the mouth.) So Atwood seems to be suggesting that the "you" in this poem was almost "designed" to affect her this way. As if that was his (or her) purpose.

Now, to the last lines: The repetition of the idea (a fish hook/an open eye) suggests that Atwood really wanted this image to be clear in the poem. How is she captured? Through the eye--through sight. Perhaps the "you" is so beautiful, the poet cannot look away. But being captured in this way is painful, perhaps even deadly.

I love poetry. One can say so much with so few words! Hope this helps.

Answer 3

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
(Margaret Atwood's Poem) You fit into me you fit into me like a hook into an eye a fish hook an open eye?
Margaret Atwood's Poem "You fit into me"
You fit into me
like a hook into an eye
a fish hook
an open eye

Can anybody explain to me more on this poem other than what I already have…

Magaret Antwood’s poem is short and simple. This amplifies the title “You fit into me”. The...

Answer 4

You Fit Into Me

Answer 5

You have my sympathy. I'm so, so glad I'm long out of school and don't have to deal with a bunch of speculation about what some author may or may not have been thinking. To me, that isn't education. Best of luck on that.