Rita Dove’s: Adolescence II

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Rita Dove’s: Adolescence II
Rita Dove’s “Adolescence II” is the second part of her three parts poem entitled, “A Colored Woman’s Adolescence.” The three parts poem portrays the different stages of growth and development in the life of the female gender. Rita Dove used his poetry skills to campaign for the rights of women and especially those of color. This is because Dove is a black American and understands the plight of women during the late 20th century. Readers need to understand that Dove is a renown American poet best known for her interest in re-envisioning historical elements in a heart touching manner. This essay explores the approach at which a reader can deploy to read and understand Dove’s poem, “Adolescence II.”
The poem is about a girl who is at her puberty stage. Dove uses surreal imagery which may leave readers wondering what is happening in the poem. However, as the poem unfolds, Dove hints that something is not right and therefore gives insight that the girl is being subjected to sexual abuse by three men who she refers to as the “seal men.” The girl seems vulnerable and naïve of the changes going through in her body. Her “baby-breasts” have just started to develop, and she is afraid to the point that she decides to seclude herself (“Dove”). Her fears drive her to seek solace in the bathroom where her molesters always meet. It is regrettable that this incident has been going on for a while and it is also bound to happen again.

The aftermath is horrifying and disheartening as the girl seems frightened, emotionally wounded and at a state of unease when she tries to clear the whole incidence from her mind.
Besides surreal imagery, Dove uses subordinating conjunctions such as “although” to showcase uncertainty. She also uses first-person narration to showcase the severity of the subject matter. Being a black American, Dove understands the molestation that women of color have to go through during their adolescence stage. The fact that the whole incident happened at “night” reveals the tension and terror haunting the entire scene. Under the characterization of a serial rapist, the “bathroom” is considered an easy avenue to ambush victims. Transitioning from a young girl to an adolescent girl is at times very traumatizing. The integrity of the girl’s body is compromised which is signaled by the phrase, “slice up the moon” (“Dove”) Additionally, the moon has been used on numerous occasions being a symbol of goddesses in the ancient societies of Egypt, Rome, and Greece. The quivering of the tiles, on the other hand, denotes fear and sets the stage for anxiety and restlessness. Consequently, the “edge of darkness” symbolizes fear and insecurity (“Dove”).
At the beginning of the poem, the girl is sited in the bathroom “waiting” for an unknown person(s). The fact that she is waiting is enough evidence that she is aware of the impending danger. This raises the question of why did she did not raise an alarm that someone had been molesting. The fact that the poem was set in the late 20th century provides a clue which only a few readers would decipher. Dove was alluding to a situation where the girl is sexually molested and cautioned against revealing the same to anyone probably after being issued with a couple of threats. “Sweat” is an element of fear and at times desperation especially if the victim of molestation has no means of preventing the ordeal. Girls are very vulnerable at their puberty stage because they want to explore the world and others are out there to take advantage of them. Immediately the molesters leave, they leave behind “ragged holes” which is a symbol of destruction and ruin. Afterwards, the girl is very restless, and this is compared to having a “ball of fur on my tongue” (“Dove”). She loathes “night” because she fears that her molesters might show up.
The dictionary form of seal men denotes creatures who like seducing females. The eyes of the seal men are “round” thereby stressing their visual senses which in the long run makes the girl shy-off and feel vulnerable. The mention of “scent of licorice” reveals how the seal men are grooming and stimulating the girl for sex. Additionally, the three seal men place themselves strategically in the bathroom. One of them “leans against the door” thereby preventing the girl from exiting because that is her only exit route (“Dove”). The second man is seated beside the bathtub while the third is inside the washbowl. This hints that the three-man were turn-taking in their expedition to rape and molest the adolescent girl. It is very devastating that they even go to the point of asking the girl whether she “feels it” which in this case denotes sexual pleasure. The three men seem jovial after molesting the girl. In fact, their “sleek bodies” are glittering after the ordeal. They promise to see her “maybe next time” meaning that they will be back to continue with what they already started (“Dove”). The poor adolescent girl cannot share her ordeal with anyone but instead has to endure torture and abuse.
Works Cited
Dove, Rita. “Adolescent-II.” 1952.