Margaret Atwood's "A Sad Child" Commentary

"A Sad Child"
by Margaret Atwood

You’re sad because you’re sad.
It’s psychic. It’s the age. It’s chemical.
Go see a shrink or take a pill,
or hug your sadness like an eyeless doll
you need to sleep.

Well, all children are sad
but some get over it.
Count your blessing. Better than that,
buy a hat. But a coat or pet.
Take up dancing to forget.

Forget what?
Your sadness, your shadow,
whatever it was that was done to you
the day of the lawn party
when you came inside flushed with the sun,
your mouth sulky with sugar,
in your new dress with the ribbon
and the ice-cream smear,
and said to yourself in the bathroom,I
am not the favorite child.

My darling, when it comes
right down to it
and the light fails and the fog rolls in
and you’re trapped in your overturned body
under a blanket or burning car,

and the red flame is seeping out of you
and igniting the tarmac beside your head
or else the floor, or else the pillow,
none of us is;
or else we all are.

Commentary

In Margaret Atwood’s poem “A Sad Child”, the poet uses simplistic diction, imagery, and figurative language in order to express one’s ideas or feelings about experiencing depression. The speaker, possibly Atwood, uses these literary techniques as a basis of coping with the inevitable occurrences in life, which is influenced by sadness, as the title would suggest. The opening line also suggests this idea as it says “You’re sad because you’re sad.” The speaker is suggesting that sadness is inescapable as it is “psychic. It is age. It is chemical.”

The speaker suggests all children are sad, though some get over it, as it is a natural part of life. Throughout the poem the speaker develops ways of coping with this sadness as she suggests seeing a shrink or “hug your sadness like an eyeless doll.” This simile suggests that sadness is childlike as a child looks to an innocent doll as a means of escaping the misery. The speaker also looks more so to the materialistic things in life, like buying a hat, coat, or pet n hopes to forget the sadness. The speaker also suggests taking on a physical task, like dancing, as another way to deal with the pain. Although, the speaker tries to keep an optimistic point of view as she suggests, “count your blessings”.

In the third stanza the speaker concludes, “I am not a favorite child.” As the speaker comes to this realization it adds to the sadness the speaker is facing. In the following stanza the speaker uses a metaphor and states, “the light fails and the fog rolls in and you’re trapped in you’re your overturned body”, which causes the speaker to panic. This vivid image again gives us the impression that the speaker is helpless and unable to escape the pain, as these events add to the pressure.

To conclude, the speaker states, “none of us is; or else we all are”, which suggests that unfortunately either we are all effected by depression or not, which adds to the idea that depression is universal. Through the use of diction, imagery, and figurative language, the speaker stresses the idea that although depression is inescapable when consumed by it, there are ways to cope with the sadness.