Diving Into The Wreck

In “Diving Into The Wreck”, Rich’s well crafted imagery and use of an extended metaphor helps to develop a powerful theme. In this poem, Rich suggests once people go through a traumatic experience they tend to hide behind a false memory they create in order to protect themselves. In order for people to completely heal themselves, they must be willing to go back into the memories they have suppressed. By taking this journey, they can reclaim what beauty was lost and put to rest the damage that was done, allowing for a rebirth of their soul.

Rich uses the images of preparing for a dive into a shipwreck to symbolize how one must prepare oneself for the journey of relooking at a painful memory. In order to prepare for the dive, the speaker of the poem “read[s] the book of myths, load[s] the camera and check[s] the edge of the knife blade” (1-3). By reading the book of myths, people must familiarize themselves with the false memories that they have created to protect themselves from the pain of the experience. People must also be willing to record the truth of the event and capture its reality, which is symbolized by the camera. As well, people must have a way to let go and release the event from the past, which can be done by the knife blade. In the poem, she also puts on her protection from the sea, the “body-armor of black rubber” (5) and the “grave and awkward mask” (7). Just as donning this protection, people try to protect themselves from the pain that they may encounter by taking this journey. Although the mask is awkward, it is also a way for one to look more clearly at what they will encounter. The facts will no longer be blurred. The “ladder...hanging close to the side of the schooner” (14-16) is a way to descend down into the depths of the water. It represents the method of descending down into the memories we have hidden. The ladder can be descended rung by rung, step by step. One cannot just throw oneself into the journey; they must ease into it step by step. In the poem, the speaker “ha[s] to do this not like Cousteau with his assiduous team...but here alone” (8-12). People may view a journey into their subconscious as dangerous as they are inexperienced and without the help of those that are familiar with doing so. But, they must prepare to do it alone to fully reap the benefits. These images and the extended metaphor of the ship wreck show how one must prepare oneself for the trip back to the traumatic experience they experienced.

The images of submerging under water and exploring the ship wreck symbolize going back into the deep memories of an event and retrieving the truth and that which was lost. Once the speaker is submerged under the water her “mask ...pumps [her] blood with power” (37-38). The mask allows her to see clearly under the water. The mask allows people to