Unfulfillment
In many of our readings from this course, we have uncovered and discussed the unfairness and unjustness that women constantly face in society. It has often been explained how they do not receive the same treatment in society as men do in which they are looked at as the inferior group to the superior men. While this still remains an issue in modern society, one could say that there has been a bit of growth in the matter. Women have far more opportunities today than they had in the past. They have the ability to work, obtain an education, and do much as they please. However, there are still certain things that prevent them from doing some of the things that they enjoy. They also still do not receive the same treatment as men in certain public environments.
In the case of Marie Francis, she has suffered or rather was discouraged by an early diagnosis of dyslexia. However, she did not let this hinder her passion for writing which began at a very young age. For readers who do not understand what dyslexia is, it is a learning disorder characterized by difficulty reading. It usually occurs in children with normal vision and intelligence. Her poem “Diminished Dreams” was in fact her first published poem. In this poem, she seems to highlight the struggles that she met with having dyslexia. These struggles also appear to be very similar to that of the struggles of women in modern society.
In the poem, Marie does not truly identify herself as the main subject but instead talks about the woman being the main target of these problems. She makes seem as if she is viewing all of the pain and trials that this said woman is going through. With this, she uses first person to describe how she feels about she sees and experiences. Later in the poem, we find that this woman that she was talking about was in fact her old and past self. This is seen in the concluding lines, “What I am, What I was, And what I could be Is gone.” The way that this poem discusses her personal battle with dyslexia is how she mentions that her dream, which was to be a writer, did not seem like they would ever come true. However, she was clearly able to overcome this battle in which I am sure took time and patience. When writing this poem, she really focused on the thoughts that she had in the past to really relay how she was feeling during that time.
Moving on to discuss how this poem also highlights the struggles women face when trying to achieve their dreams. Marie discusses how man has a lot to do with women's failure to achieve their goals in life. As often explained, they prohibit women from doing many things outside of what is usually known as their normal tasks. She explains that women do not even have a voice in society and that their concerns are not taken into consideration. She states this in the lines, “Her lost words are Swallowed By the waves Of misconceptions.” I felt that these were the perfect words to describe this subject because it is very true that when a woman speaks, their words do not truly have any value except to themselves. They are also often misconstrued depending on the subject at hand.
One way to conclude this is that every time a woman feels that they are moving forward in their lives, they are often pushed several steps back. There is never truly a sufficient resolution to these problems.