analysis of "girl in the doorway" by dorianne laux
...by the last two lines: "All that light in her arms like a blanket and takes it with her"(lines 24-25). That means that the little girl brings light and joy to the mother's life, but in the same time the little girl takes it with her, and that is what makes her sad. The poet uses images that appeals to the reader's visual imagery. "Her dog chews her new shoes"(line 10). This image implies her being a little girl, and then later on in the poem, just like the order in life, there is an image that makes the reader imagine her legs in a sexual way, "The v of her legs"(line 20). It indicates the change from a little girl to a mature one. Another technique that the poet uses is alliteration. Alliteration is very significant for the reader to understand the poem. It emphasizes the main idea of the little girl becoming a teenager, due to the repetition of the letter "s". The "s" sound has -1- two roles in this poem. The first, as a girl the "s" sound implies softness. The second, as a teenager the "s" indicates on sensuality. "Her silver braces shine inside the velvet case of her mouth"(line 7-8). There are several connotations that the poet uses. For instance, the number twelve which appears in the first line: "She is twelve now". The number twelve connotes the reader to the Jewish tradition. According to the Jewish tradition twelve is a "bat mitzvah" age. In this age girls become young women. Moreover, they understand things that they did not understand before. They are more mature and puberty. Another connotation is the braces: "Her silver braces"(line 7). This connotes the reader to a little girl; usually children have braces on their teeth in order to ...