THIS IS A PHOTOGRAPH OF ME Margret Atwood

Margaret Eleanor Atwood, (born November 18, 1939) is a Canadian poet, novelist,

literary critic, essayist, and environmental activist. She is among the most-honored authors of fiction in recent history. She is a winner of the Arthur C. Clarke Award and Prince of Asturias award for Literature, has been shortlisted for the Booker Prize five times, winning once, and has been a finalist for the Governor General's Award seven times, winning twice. She is also a founder of the Writers' Trust of Canada, a non-profit literary organization that seeks to encourage Canada's writing community. While she is best known for her work as a novelist, she is also a

poet, having published fifteen books of poetry to date. Many of her poems have been nspired by myths and fairy tales, which have been interests of hers from an early age. She has also published four collections of stories and three collections of unclassifiable short prose works.

About the poem:

In this poem the speaker is passively exposed to the photograph. This is a photo of

the poet that others have taken. This is a history of the poet which others have created. The others are males who are active in making history of females. When other makes history of female then there comes the problem of precision and

accuracy. In patriarchy males are creating women’s story. Photograph was taken sometimes ago. The speaker has not specified the time. The photograph is not clear, lines are blurred, and the light of photograph has become dim. Photograph stands for her history which is not clear; light stands for the creativity of the woman. If a woman does some important work in the society, that is shadowed. Patriarchy ignores the contribution of female. In the left hand corner, there are branches of tree. These branches of tree have emerged to right hand side. In right hand side there is a frame house. This can be seen if you see the photograph minutely. Here the right hand side

(frame House) stands for male and left hand side (branches) stands for female. 

A woman is treated as left hand and man is treated as right hand. Woman is placed on the left hand simply associated with branches which have no roots and man is placed on the right hand side. Left hand is normally weaker than right hand. Females are supposed to be weaker and passive than male. Lake stands for the society of the photograph. Beyond the society, there are low hills. Hills and lakes keep the woman in shadow. Hills and lakes are the causes that distort her history. Margaret is trying to show the small frame houses that are not responsible for the exploitations of women.

As a whole, society or the lake/ hill are responsible for the happenings to women. The speaker is not taken out of the lake. The poet portrays identity crisis. She is the center of domestic work, but marginalized in social, political and economical fields. The last line is revolutionary. 

Despite all the discrimination she is there. They can destroy her photograph but cannot destroy her existence. Woman is exploited since time immemorial. Therefore the speaker does not like to The title of Margaret Atwood's "This is a Photograph of Me" is quite suggestive. The title may give rise to several interpretations. The poetess may want our attention drawn to the photograph. She looks very different in reality. However, the most plausible interpretation would be that- the general perception or outlook about her was quite different; this was her real self in the photograph. She first goes on to describe the photo in terms of time, it was not a recent

photograph but taken some time ago. It appears to be smeared (out of deconstruction).These appeared to be blurred lines as though she was graphically analyzed. The blurred lines and grey flecks (aspersions) seem to be blended with the paper itself. They have now become intricately linked with her personality. The poetess is therefore depicted in the first stanza by means of logical analysis, and in terms of the material. Woman has always been intellectually disregarded; she rather remains a material commodity for commercialization. The advertisements of today pose as the best instances. We stumble upon the truth as the poetess declares in the next line: The photograph was taken the day after I drowned.