Teaghan Holman

AP Literature

Murphy

23 Jan 2020

“Daddy” Analysis Questions

1. What effect might Plath have hoped to achieve by opening this poem with the repetition

of the phrase, "You do not do" in the first line of the poem? What is a possible purpose

she might have for doing so?

This repetition at the beginning of the poem draws the reader’s attention to the information to

come, a period of foreshadowing in a sense. It also creates a tone of seriousness and

determination, as it speaks to the daughter’s desire to break free of her father’s tyrannical way of

life.

2. Identify and explain Plath's use of metaphor in stanza 2. In your explanation, discuss the

emotion this description conveys.

The metaphor in stanza two describes Daddy as “Marble-heavy, A bag full of God.” While it is

possible that this metaphor simply describes the physical appearance of the father, in a deeper

sense, it expresses the idealistic father that all children see their fathers as when they are young.

This is written in a negative way to convey an angry tone, however, as the metaphor also alludes

to how the daughter sees her father as a stubborn, tyrannical figure with no interest in listening to

others' perspectives; this idea comes back later when the father is revealed to be a Nazi, as Nazis

are notorious figures of the refusal to see and/or understand different types and ways of life.
 3. How does Plath characterize or convey the character of the father in the first eight

stanzas? Provide specific words, phrases, and lines in the poem to support your answer.

Plath conveys the character of the father as a negative figure by comparing him to various

negative symbols throughout the first eight stanzas. For example, in the first stanza, she

compares him to “a black shoe” in which the daughter has been forced to live. Later on in the

poem, Plath uses a dark metaphor, comparing the daughter to a Jewish woman and claiming that

every German man is her father: “I thought every German was you… and I think I may well be a

Jew.” This expresses that her father - maybe simply subconsciously - is out to completely

demolish her emotionally and possibly physically (with continued abuse).

4. Identify and explain the rhetorical device in line 14, where the speaker says to her father,

"I used to pray to recover you." If she hates him so much, why would she want him back?

Sadly, while some children are lucky enough to be a part of families with loving parents, others

face extremely negative ones. Although these parental figures may be uncaring and even abusive

at times, there is an innate desire in children that drives people to long for their parents, as they

are meant to be their source of safety and security. This appears to be true for Plath’s speaker and

her father: although the majority of the poem is spent berating the father for his negative impact

on his daughter’s life, she still expresses her longing to have a father who lives up to her

childlike vision of the perfect dad.

 5. This poem contains several allusions to Hitler and Nazi Germany, as well as

concentration camp imagery. What message do the allusions and imagery convey about

Plath's attitude toward her father?

A reference to Hitler and his Nazis conveys a sense of tyrannical abuse to the reader. In this

sense, it most likely allows the reader to infer that the main character was abused and/or

abandoned by her father as a child, causing her to resent him forever. Since he is her father, she

has no choice but to obey him, much like the prisoners were forced to obey their Nazi captors in

WWII - although this is on a much smaller scale. While she may have felt comforted by his

somewhat fatherly presence in her younger years, she now sees him for who he really is: her

personal oppressor.

6. Discuss the tone of lines 48–50 ("Every woman adores a Fascist, / The boot in the face,

the brute / Brute heart of a brute like you"). In your discussion, tell whether the use of

this tone is effective.

In this part of the poem, Plath connects the boot in the face to a brute like the speaker’s father.

The tone is one of pure hatred which alludes to the oppressive nature of the Nazi men of whom

she compared to her father.

7. In line 58, the speaker says, "At twenty I tried to die..." What does she mean?

In this quote, Plath expresses that the speaker feels trapped in the ways of her abusive father and

wants to break free; she feels paralyzed and sees death as the only way out.
 8. In lines 64–67, the speaker says, "I made a model of you, / A man in black with a

Meinkampf look / And a love of the rack and the screw. / And I said I do, I do." Explain

what she accomplishes with her actions described in these lines.

The actions in these lines help to explain Plath’s purpose for wishing ill upon the father. The

daughter has so much hate for him that she hopes he could come back to life only for her to

destroy him for his constant emotional and physical abuse.

9. In line 71, the speaker declares, "If I've killed one man, I've killed two." Explain her

meaning and use of irony in this statement.

This statement is ironic because it alludes to her desire to kill her father again and again;

vampires are notorious for their ability to withstand being killed, and the speaker hopes to release

all of her pent-up aggression towards her father by killing him over and over again.

10. Explain Plath's references to Germans and Jews. How does she use these groups to

convey theme?

The allusions to Germans and Jews serve as an extreme parallel to the life of the speaker and her

father. They help to bring together the overall theme of persecution and oppression of the father

upon the daughter. The speaker is represented by the Jews, the victim of the situation, while the

father is represented by the Nazis, the source of pain and oppression.

11. At the end of the poem, in line 80, the speaker says, "Daddy, daddy, you bastard, I'm

through." Do you believe she is really liberated from her father now?
At this point in the poem, the speaker appears to be done living her life in the shadow of her

oppressive father. Although she may be through being influenced by his opinions, it is nearly

impossible to be rid of the mental scars that come from child abuse; he will always have an

impact on her life, whether she wants him to or not.

12. Identify and explain at least one simile and one metaphor used by Plath in this poem to

help her describe her feelings about her father.

The simile, “Ghastly statue with one gray toe big as a Frisco seal,” expresses the pain the speaker

feels as the idealistic view of her father fades away and she is left with the tyrannical remains.

Moreover, the metaphor, “The tongue stuck in my jaw… It stuck in a barb wire snare,” expresses

how negatively her father has affected her through his constant oppression and persecution; she

cannot speak to him for fear that he will abuse her for saying something wrong.