Moth Case

"I've learned from experience that the greater part of our happiness or misery depends on our disposition and not on our circumstances." In this quote, Martha Washington seeks to explain that regardless of any situation someone is in, that person is in charge of their own outcome. Which relates to W.D. Snodgrass' poem, "Lying Awake." In a literal sense, one will already notice that the title reveals somewhat of an introduction to the poem. Right off the bat, I felt the poem was going to be about someone intentionally lying about something despite whatever the situation might be. The word lying is typically associated with a negative connotation, and therefore, we can already assume that there is going to be some sort of conflict. Which relates to "Lying Awake," because it reveals our narrator is dishonest with himself, although he is aware of it. This is central to the poem because it shows readers that the way we choose to handle our situations determine the outcome of our situations and, ultimately, the kinds of people we are or aspire to be. The fact that our narrator is caught in between lying to himself and another character is pivotal to his tentative ways.

The narrator in "Lying Awake" is unreliable simply because he/she doesn't learn an overall lesson by the end of the poem.