Are you sick of paradise?

Are you sick of paradise?

In his poem, “Of Paradise,” Jay Hopler uses figurative language to convey the message; Paradise is not what it seems. The poet captures scenes from his life in Florida and turns them into despair in disguise. According to the McGraw Hill Poetic Glossary, Figurative Language is, “A form of language use in which writers and speakers convey something other than the literal meaning of their words.” It can include hyperbole, exaggeration, litotes or understatements, simile and metaphor, and synecdoche and metonymy.  For this particular poem, the poet uses this technique to convince the reader that there is a meaning behind the words. I am interested to see how similes and the comparison of opposites are used to convey the deeper message of the poem.

Glancing at the poem, I automatically notice two similes: “Black as zero is useless” and “Black as grammar school.” These two similes describe the fly mentioned in the beginning. “Black as a zero is useless” is a metaphor for death and zero implies nothingness (III. 1 – 2). After reading this line, I looked back at the following lines for developed relationships: “There is a black fly drowning in this glass of beer.” […] “How can no one notice it, that black fly”? […] and from these lines I can imagine silent deaths in a place that creates an illusion of serenity, but really it is a place of darkness (II. 1 – 2). On the contrary, when I write the number zero, I draw a circle, and can see that it is hollow inside – filled with nothing. If I fill in the zero, it becomes more than nothing, it becomes a dot – a symbol used every day. A dot, despite being a symbol, is also how a fly looks when it has been drowned.

When I read the next line, “Black as grammar school [.],” I connect the fly’s death with two physical phase that has passed – many years being in grammar school, as well as a phase that has yet to come – the speaker’s death in paradise. If I focus on the grammar school aspect of the line, I imagine two scenes: filling in the circles for standardized test (a metaphor for zero) and then the light being off in the grammar school building (a metaphor for graduating). These lines are the equivalent of the first two lines, yet they hold more meaning because they are comparing the color of the fly (black) to items that mean nothing and have passed.

Besides simile, the poem also embeds comparisons of opposites which make for dynamic images. As I was reading, I noticed the amount of times the poet uses the word “black.” Out of nowhere, in the tenth line, the poet uses the word “white.” This one word gives leeway into a different interpretation of the poem. Previously, there was darkness about the setting of the poem which included the fly drowning, no one noticing it drowning, and its black color. At his point, the poem split into two sections. The first section was completely dim, but out of the darkness came one spec of light reflecting from the man’s white rubber boots. I love this comparison because when I imagine paradise, I think of beautiful weather and joy, which can be symbolized by the color white.

Another comparison of opposites is in line eight, “Small and gigantic.” This comparison compares many images in the poem: the fly, glass of beer, and zero are all small. Whereas, grammar school, man, fisherman are all gigantic compared to the fly, glass of beer, and number zero. What is more interesting about the line is that it stands alone. It is alone because the poet wanted to emphasis the size of those particular images. This analysis suggests to me that paradise is not only paradise for people, but also for creatures too. The fly, the man, and the speaker are living together in paradise.

With this newfound knowledge, I understand that the poet is suggesting that too much paradise can turn into a nightmare which was symbolized by the fly’s death and the atmosphere of the first section of the poem. As the poem ends, the poet writes: “How sick we are, the three of us, / Of paradise” (V.II – III). Note how the title of the poem, of paradise started with capital letters, but at the end of the poem the letter ‘p’ is not capitalized. The title of the poem suggests, in the beginning, that Paradise is a perfect place to relax and enjoy your-self, but at the end of the poem, paradise turned out to be a place of routine (drinking beer, flies drowning, and fishing) that does not stop until death.  Throughout this short poem, the poet used a combination of figurative language and concrete images portray that paradise is not always what it seems.

Of Paradise

There is a black fly drowning in this glass of beer.

There is a black fly drowning in this glass of beer.

How can no one notice it,

That black fly?

Black as a zero is useless.

Black as grammar school.

The man with the beer is a fisherman,

Small and gigantic

In his white rubber boots.

How sick we are, the three of us,

Of paradise.