English 11 Unit Four Essay Mind Chanika

I. Introduction

A. Thesis statement: Theodore Roethke uses the symbol of light in the dark to

express the theme of hope: hope to arrive in “Night Journey,” hope to survive

in “Root Cellar,” and hope to understand in “In a Dark Time.”

II. Body Paragraph #1

A. Topic sentence: In “Night Journey,” Theodore Roethke makes use of the

symbol of light in the dark to represent the theme of hope to arrive.

B. Supporting evidence:

i. “From dark to blazing bright;” (line 17), “And gullies washed with

light” (line 19) => The author shifts the image from the dark settings of the

night into bright object and scenery.


ii. “I stare into the night/ While others take their rest” (lines 4-5), “Full on my

neck I feel/ The straining at curve/ My muscle move with steel,/ I wake in

every nerve” (lines 12-15) => even though it’s during the night when the

persona’s supposed to be asleep light most people, he’s still being wide-awake

and ready to do anything.


iii. “We rush into a rain” (line 22), “Wheels shake the roadbed stone/ The

pistons jerk and shove,” (lines 24-25), “I stay up half the night/ To see the

land I love” (lines 26-27) => persona is willing to move on and continue, like

the train that is not stopping by any hindrance, until he can arrive.

C. Clincher sentence: The light occurring amid the darkness of the night during

the persona’s train journey portrays the hope of the persona to arrive at his
English 11 Unit Four Essay Mind Chanika

destination, his aim or goal in life.


III. Body Paragraph #2

A. Topic sentence: The theme of hope to survive is emphasized in the poem

“Root Cellar” by using the symbol of light in the dark.

B. Supporting evidence:

i. “Bulbs broke of out boxes hunting for chinks in the dark,” (line 2) => the

light is finding way to shine in the dark cellar.


ii. “Nothing would sleep in that cellar, dank as ditch,” (line 1) => it

symbolises how the light’s and other objects’ attempt are related to survival.


iii. “Nothing would give up life:” (line 10) => the light sees the darkness and

thinks that it’s impossible to shine, objects think that they can’t survive (lime

piled against “slippery” planks)

related to the existence of hope in the despair; when someone has no hope

left, they are giving up on their life.

C. Clincher sentence: The symbol of the light gives the sense of endeavouring and

striving which will later spark the hope of the persona and the audience to face and

survive through the hardship in their life hereafter.

IV. Body Paragraph #3

A. Topic sentence: The symbol of light in the dark is used in the poem “In a Dark

Time” to express the theme of hope to understand.

English 11 Unit Four Essay Mind Chanika

B. Supporting evidence:

i. “All natural shapes blazing unnatural light.” (line 18) => after describing

the dark settings, shadowy and shady, the personas see the light, which is

uncommon that it occurs among the darkness. 


ii. “Dark, dark my light, and darker my desire.” (line 19) => the harder the

situations, the more of persona’s desire to understand and see things truly as

how they are. 


iii. “In a dark time, the eye begins to see,” (line 1) => because of the light of

hope, the persona finds the way to understand himself.

C. Clincher sentence: The hope to understand himself of the persona is like the

light that shines and let the persona see things, especially himself, in the hardest

times. 


V. Conclusion


A. Rephrased thesis statement: In the poems “Night Journey,” “Root

Cellar,” and “In a Dark Time,” the theme of hope—hope to arrive, hope to survive,

and hope to understand—is symbolised into the form of light in the dark.
English 11 Unit Four Essay Mind Chanika

Light in the Dark

Theodore Roethke was one of the most successful and influential poets of the 20th

century. He was born in Saginaw, Michigan in which he spent a great deal of time in his

father’s huge greenhouse all along his childhood. So, he was drawn into the deep meanings of

nature since he was a kid by observing while playing in that greenhouse. However, his life

wasn’t always a bed of roses. At the age of fourteen, his father passed away from cancer, and

his uncle committed suicide. Besides, when he was 20, his study at Harvard University was

discontinued because of the Great Depression occurring in USA at that time. He had been

through many struggles in his lifetime, so it later led to his sufferings on severe depression

and other mental illnesses. To take his life experiences into account, his poems were greatly

influenced by his childhood and those illnesses, as his style of writing was always connected

to images of nature and inner thoughts of human. Theodore Roethke uses the symbol of light

in the dark to express the theme of hope: hope to arrive in “Night Journey,” hope to survive in

“Root Cellar,” and hope to understand in “In a Dark Time.”

In “Night Journey,” Theodore Roethke makes use of the symbol of light in the dark to

represent the theme of hope to arrive. He starts the poem by illustrating the settings of the

night scenery that he sees along his train ride such as shadowy trees, mountain and lake.

Throughout the poem, he describes more objects like beacon and gullies that appear and light

up out of the darkness. Moreover, “From dark to blazing bright;” (line 17) shows that

Roethke tends to shift the images of the settings into more of the brighter ones. He implies

that he can see those unexpected lights, because he is being awake unlike others, as he says,

“I stare into the night/ While others take their rest” (lines 4-5) and “Full on my neck I feel/

The straining at curve/ My muscle move with steel,/ I wake in every nerve” (lines 12-15).

Meanwhile, the train continues moving continuously, even directly into the rain. Just like the
English 11 Unit Four Essay Mind Chanika

train that is not stopping by any hindrances, the persona resists to his sleepiness at night and

is willing to move on and continue his journey, until he will finally arrive. The light occurring

amid the darkness of the night in the middle of the persona’s train journey portrays the hope

of the persona to arrive at his destination, his aim or goal in life.

The theme of hope to survive is emphasized in the poem “Root Cellar” by using the

symbol of light in the dark. Roethke first describes about his overall surroundings in the dark

cellar. He continues by portraying objects in the cellar and their attempts to grow and shine in

that improper conditions. Then, he comes to the most outstanding object in the settings which

are light bulbs; “Bulbs broke of out boxes hunting for chinks in the dark,” (line 2). He

validates the action of the bulbs by saying that they are the light finding their way to shine in

the darkness of the cellar. Roethke wants to point out how the light’s and other objects’

attempts are related to survival by stating that “Nothing would sleep in that cellar, dank as

ditch,” (line 1) and “Nothing would give up life:” (line 10 ), while “sleep” and “give up” refer

to the desperation inside everyone’s mind when they have no hope left to continue their life.

So, he symbolises the bulbs’ light as the hope to survive in the hopeless situations, and that

symbol of the light gives the sense of endeavouring and striving which will further spark the

hope of the persona and the audience to face and survive through the hardship in their life

hereafter.

The symbol of light in the dark is used in the poem “In a Dark Time” to express the

theme of hope to understand. The poem begins by the depiction of the persona and expands

to the bigger pictures of nature, during the night time. Roethke also interprets almost

everything taking action in the dark in front of him, such as rocks, moon, heron and wren, as

an entrapment or a struggle, referring the dark night to the hard times in his life. When he

mentions, “All natural shapes blazing unnatural light.” (line 18), he is telling the audience
English 11 Unit Four Essay Mind Chanika

that he is able to see the light which is rare that it occurs among this impervious darkness

around the persona. Furthermore, according to line 19, “Dark, dark my light, and darker my

desire” reveals the truth that the darker the night becomes, the more light the persona wants

to see. In other words, he implies that when the situation gets harder, it even strengthens the

persona’s desire to understand and see things truly as how they are. It can also be related back

to the first line of the poem, “In a dark time, the eye begins to see,” that because of the

existence of darkness, the light can shine brightly that the persona notices. The hope to

understand himself of the persona is like the light that shines and let the persona see things,

especially himself, in the hardest times.

In the poems “Night Journey,” “Root Cellar,” and “In a Dark Time,” the theme of

hope—hope to arrive, hope to survive, and hope to understand—is symbolised into the form

of light in the dark. By using symbol to convey messages in the poem, Roethke is making the

abstract ideas or concepts, like feelings and emotions, become more tangible and intelligible

for the audience. In other words, symbolism is a device used to help him reach out to the

audience more. Moreover, as we know that he often writes the themes about his mental

illnesses and hope, his poems will create a great impact to everyone in the society because the

patients can receive hope to fight and continue their lives, and others can get to understand

the patients’ struggle and situation more.

English 11 Unit Four Essay Mind Chanika

Reference

Florist's Root Cellar by Theodore Roethke. (2018). Retrieved from https://

www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/browse?contentId=23706

In A Dark Time - Theodore Roethke - My poetic side. (2018). Retrieved from https://

mypoeticside.com/show-classic-poem-23783

Night Journey - Theodore Roethke - My poetic side. (2018). Retrieved from https://

mypoeticside.com/show-classic-poem-23773

Theodore Roethke. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/theodore-

roethke

Theodore Roethke Poems > My poetic side. (2018). Retrieved from https://

mypoeticside.com/poets/theodore-roethke-poems