The poetry of Adrienne Rich

This week I chose to analyze a bit one of Adrienne Rich’s poems entitled “Seven Skins”. Although the poem was written in 1997, it takes place in 1952, in postwar America. The image of the paraplegic GI was not uncommon that days, the waste of several young men must have been a common experience known and shared by everyone. As Vic Greenberg cannot walk without his wheelchair, he has to use “the only elevator route”. This image caught my attention and I try to imagine how hard it must have been for him to run his chair in a time when the suitable equipment for people in need was not provided. As a veteran, he got free education from the government, but we may ask the question: what is more important: bodily soundness or university education. A university degree cannot compensate the loss of limbs or total or partial paralysis. The hypocrisy of the government legislature can be seen in this case. The harsh realities of paralyzed people are well depicted in the following lines:
“Dating Vic Greenberg you date
crutches and a chair”. So they are also deprived of having average (or normal?) relationships, they are looked at by others, and anyway, who wants to date with someone like him? He, and the others like him, will have many missed opportunities in their life, just because they are destroyed by a war which they did not want to participate in, which was none of their business, still they had to go there and either die or arrive home crippled. This reminds me of one of the scenes of the film Forest Gump, when on New Year’s Eve the captain (also in a wheelchair) is together with some prostitutes who are mocking at him when he falls out of his chair and cannot stand up. He also, went to war to defend the country and the reward is now some scoffing.
Going back to the poem, some lines below the quotation we have another example of the selfish and hypocritical society. I am speaking about the paraplegics’ conference for wives to facilitate their sex life with their husbands. As if their new situation was not enough burden for them… After this the poet asks about American civilization. Yes, this was an appropriate question, seeing the American destruction in Europe (see Dresden e.g.), the needless atomic bombs in Japan, and the crippling of her own sons who gathered around Uncle Sam to defend him.
Another hint at the contemporary conditions and Vic’s state: she was taken to a restaurant without stairs. I guess a restaurant like this was hard to found back in 1952. After the meal, the usual questions seem to arise, the usual conversation after a date but in this case one of them is not “usual”. Still they spend the night together, “nakedness without sperm” as she says. (Anyway I do not know if a paraplegic is able to have sex). For at least one night he can feel that he is a man and is able to seduce (and even put to bed) any woman he wants. And what about her and her “unusual” decision? Maybe she was solitary or felt sorry for him, we do not know, but still, she helped someone in need.