Marriage is often related to happiness and happy-endings. The union between two people who are in love and are finally ready to settle down with each other. However, not every marriage follows through according to this. Judith Minty’s poem, “Conjoined”, demonstrates her view on marriage. She sees marriage as something horrible and gruesome. She portrays her view through using metaphor, simile, and diction.
Minty utilizes metaphor to demonstrate her view on marriage. For example, in stanza one, she is describing an onion which actually have two onions jointed together and growing “against the other”. She is actually comparing marriage to a deformed onion. Like the onion, two people that joined in matrimony and are trying to growing upon one another. Usually marriages are seemed to be an understanding and commitment between the two to come together and start a life together. They are willing to grow together, not against each other. She is describing marriage to be such a horrible and terrible thing. Furthermore, Minty is describing how the onion is “deformed where it pressed and grew against the other”. She is saying marriage caused the two people trying to adapt to one another but in the end both are deformed and damage. Either one is able to really grow. Marriage is supposed to be full of compromise and growing as a couple not individually against the other. What Minty is saying is actually contradicts against how marriage is suppose to be like. Monsters are not supposed to form out of marriage. There might be up and downs but marriage is all about compromise. Readers are able to understand her view of marriage through this metaphor.
Minty also use simile to describe marriage. For instance, Minty wrote in stanza two, “An accident, like two-headed calf rooted/In one body, fighting to suck at its mother’s treats”. She illustrates marriage by comparing two calves that share one body. Both of them have a fully functioning mind but control one body together. Both are fight to survive by fighting for their mother’s milk. Like the calves, the companions are like together through marriage, but each have their own view and perceptions of the world and relationship between them. Minty is saying that it is like being stuck together by accident and both have their own opinion of everything. Each one is trying to get their way and being the dominant one in the relationship. They are always fighting for a position or things. Minty influences the readers to see that marriage is a cruel and unusual thing. Furthermore, Minty describes in stanza two lines 7-9, “other freaks, Chang and Eng, twins/Joined at the chest by skin and muscle, doomed/To live, even make love, together for sixty years”. Readers are able to receive an unpleasant feeling from these lines. They can not imagine the picture of being stuck to another person and living with them until death. It makes marriage seem like an impossible relationship between two people. The thought of sharing basically everything with the other person is unimaginable from how Minty describes it. However, it is another thing that marriage is. The two people are willing to come together and share everything that they have with each other. It does not matter what it is because the two have make a commitment to be together until death do them apart. Also because one is part of the other, it is difficult to separate the two. Minty says that “to sever the muscle could free one/ But might kill the other”. The calves and the Siamese twins are inseparable for they shared one body. If one were to be separate, then the other would die. Just like marriage, if one where to grow and become separate from the other, the marriage would die. Simile allows the readers to see Minty’s view of marriage.
Minty uses words with strong negative connotation to get her point across to the readers. For example, the words “monster”, “deformed”, “freaks”, and “doomed” give off a negative and unpleasant feel. Through using these words, the readers are able to imagine and feel how she feels towards marriage. Minty wants to show her view of marriage. She feels that marriage is something cruel and horrible. Marriage to her is not a normal and pleasant thing. Her point of view is totally different from the connation of marriage. Her diction allows readers to see how she views marriage. Her tone is negative. She sees marriage as a burden and horrible thing for the two have to grow against each other, fight, and share everything with each other. “Monster”, “deformed”, “freaks”, and “doomed” are words that are usually used to describe those who are not fit and supernatural.
In “Conjoined”, Judith Minty describes her point of view on marriage through metaphor, similes, and diction. She does not see marriage stereotypically like others. She sees it as a horrible and gruesome relationship two people.
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