Carapace by Denise Levertov
"Carapace" by Denise Levertov is a poignant poem exploring the impact of political tragedies and systemic violence on individual lives, particularly through the eyes of children. The term "carapace," referring to the protective shell of animals like turtles and crabs, symbolizes both the desire for emotional protection and the psychological barriers that develop in response to trauma. The poem opens with a conversation between the poet and a child who has witnessed the violence of law enforcement, revealing a disturbing juxtaposition between innocence and harsh realities. As the poet reflects on her own emotional armor, she grapples with the implications of becoming emotionally detached while recognizing the dangers of such a shell—namely, the risk of losing sensitivity to life's intricacies.
Levertov presents two children's perspectives, highlighting their responses to grief and loss, which are shaped by their experiences in a violent world. The first child's sardonic understanding of terms like "subversive" indicates a premature maturity born from exposure to trauma, while the second child's subdued sadness reflects a troubling normalization of violence. The poem's structure mirrors its themes, with the visual arrangement evoking the image of a shell. Through its everyday language and vivid imagery, "Carapace" prompts a contemplation of inhumanity and the complexities of maintaining one's humanity in the face of adversity. Overall, Levertov's work serves as a powerful commentary on the intersection of personal and political suffering.
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Carapace by Denise Levertov
Excerpted from an article in Magill’s Survey of American Literature, Revised Edition
First published: 1984 (collected in Oblique Prayers, 1984)
Type of work: Poem
The Work
In “Carapace,” Levertov writes about her response to the world’s political tragedies. A carapace is the hard shell of an animal, such as a turtle or crab, that protects the soft inner part from harm. The poem’s persona announces that she herself is growing a shell, even though she regrets the shell-like exteriors of other people that render them insensitive to the world’s problems. In the poem, she contemplates children. She begins as though the poet and a child were talking about a situation. The child has seen her own father shot by police; the poet asks the child if she knows what the word “subversive” means. The child’s somewhat attentive somewhat sardonic reply indicates that despite her youth, this child is already an adult, a product of modern inhumanity.
The poet then goes back to contemplating how well her shell is growing and how superior it is to mere skin. Speaking as though she could control the growing of a body part, she remarks that there will be chinks in the armor where the sections in the carapace do not completely meet. Whether or not the insinuation here demands that these are welcome points of entry where someone could still reach the soft underbelly is debatable, as one could read that act as one of violation or one of nurture. Yet, the poem’s ending is telling, depending upon how one invokes the tone.
Another child enters, this boy only nine years old. When asked how he feels about his missing father, who has “disappeared,” he replies with a shrug and says only that he is sad. The repeated violence that the boy has seen in his short life has rendered him unemotional about even his own father.
The poem ends with an urging to the shell to grow faster. At the same time, the world’s problems still intrude. Levertov seems to write of two minds here: She wants to hide from the evil that destroys the wonder of the world; at the same time, she realizes that it is impossible to so do. If the shell encased her like a suit of armor, then she would entirely lose the sensitivity to life and the will to try to change things.
The probable political message here is one of a poet responding not only to the explicit situations of missing persons in Central America but also to all inhumanity. The concrete situations and the dialogue, written in everyday language, paint clear images. A man is shot as he is escaping over a wall, and a young person responds to deep grief with only a shrug. The visual structure of the text itself resembles the subject, a shell. The two scenes with the children are inset, while the comments on the growth of the shell surround them, in the same way that the growing shell covers the vulnerable animal inside. The form and the subject mesh, as the poet arranges these scenes to force the reader to contemplate such inhumanity.
Bibliography
Block, Edward, ed. Renascence: Essays on Values in Literature 50, no. 1 (Fall, 1997). Special Levertov issue.
Gwynne, R. S., ed. American Poets Since World War II. Vol. 5 in Dictionary of Literary Biography, edited by Matthew J. Bruccoli. Detroit: Gale Research, 1980.
Hollenberg, Donna. “’History as I Desired It’: Ekphrasis as Postmodern Witness in Denise Levertov’s Late Poetry.” Modernism/Modernity 10, no. 3 (September, 2003): 519-537.
Janssen, Ronald, ed. Twentieth Century Literature 38, no. 3 (Fall, 1992). Special Levertov issue.
Little, Anne Colclough, and Susie Paul, eds. Denise Levertov: New Perspectives. West Cornwall, Conn.: Locust Hill Press, 2000.
Long, Mark. “Affinities of Faith and Place in the Poetry of Denise Levertov.” ISLE 6, no. 2 (Summer, 1999): 31-40.
Rodgers, Audrey. Denise Levertov: The Poetry of Engagement. Cranbury, N.J.: Associated University Presses, 1993.
Wagner, Linda W. Denise Levertov. New York: Twayne, 1967.
Wagner, Linda W., ed. Denise Levertov: In Her Own Province. New York: New Directions, 1979.
Wagner-Martin, Linda, ed. Critical Essays on Denise Levertov. Boston: G. K. Hall, 1991.