The Human Condition -- Poetry Response #9

"The Human Condition" by Thom Gunn is a very odd poem. Gunn uses the fog to represent life. It is the distraction and struggles in life. He say that lights "press beams painfully / In a yard of fog around." I think this Gunn is saying that light, which usually represents good or a goal to reach, makes the distractions and struggles painfully obvious. When I read this, I thought of how sometimes goals seem unattainable and how trying to reach these goals can make a person feel overwhelmed. Take my college applications; I really want to go to Stanford or MIT but sometimes, I feel so overwhelmed by all of the work I have to do. It seems like I will never finish. I saw this as the light (college) showing the struggles (all the application work) in a painful way. I also think it is interesting that Gunn says "I am condemned to be / An individual." Usually people want to be individual, people don't want to conform. Gunn, however, seems to think that being individual is an inescapable thing and that it is a bad thing. When Gunn refers to "individual", I think he means "alone". I think the fog makes Gunn feel solitary. Fog blocks eyesight, and I think that Gunn can't really see anyone else, especially when the lights shine on the fog. Sometimes life gets so hectic and overwhelming that we forget that we have others to rely on. I think feeling alone occurs when nothing seems to be going according to plan. The lights and the fog represent this feeling.