"The Worst Thing" (Winter)

"The Worst Thing" by Sharon Olds communicates the experience of morning after the separation of her  and her husband. In this scene she describes driving with a male friend along the cost contemplating love and God  with many references to the ocean (symbolic of womanhood and strength).

I would first like to address the use of juxtaposition in the first three lines, Olds states: "On one side of the highway, the waterless hills/ The other, in the distance, the tidal wastes/ estuaries, bay, throat". In this case the water symbolizes strength and both sides juxtapose each other in levels of strength while Olds drives in the middle of them; this communicates that she isn't completely destroyed by the divorce, rather, she is indifferent in terms of bodily strength.

There is an increased use of the dash in lines 12-14: " what I minded was -- say there was/ a god --of love-- and I'd given -- I had meant/ to give -- my life -- to it". The use of dash here is to slow the audience in reading this because it is intended to be slow deep processing on the author's part. It is also important to notice that Olds has begun to doubt God in this section whereas before, she trusted God and his decisions. This thought is reinforced in line 21 with: "I knew there was no god".

There is an indication of healing though in this poem; Olds mentions in line 24-26 when speaking about a friend: "and the back of his hand rubbed them, a second,/ with clumsiness, with the courtesy/ of no eros, the homemade kindness". The mention of a male companion (although she says is strictly a platonic relationship) gives the audience hope that she is healing.

If the section December- January represents denial and grieving, the Winter section represents anger and a stubborn healing; by this I mean not letting herself miss the good times she had with him. This passage also expresses her frustration with God, herself, the situation, and the course of nature. The audience sympathizes with Olds as well as has hope for the situation because they can see the change bubbling inside of her. I will post about the Spring section promptly.

            - Nicki Clifford