Symbols of Symbolism

Symbols of Symbolism

Why would a person want to read about a poem about a kid and his glasses? Because as people grow up they never realize that there childhood dreams were forgotten as they grow up. The poem “Unlucky” written by Michael Conley Carter is a symbolic poem about childhood dreams and how they are crushed as adults.

To begin, in the poem Unlucky, it tells of a boy who thinks he wants glasses as a child. In line 11 it says “imagine”. This shows that the boy puts direct thought and his creativity into his dream. In addition, I also think that he thinks he wants glasses because in line 15 it says “I pictured my face in the mirror”. This shows how boy has put enough thought and imagination into this that he can picture himself and he really wants it. Both of these quotes help to show the symbolism of the glasses in this poem as representing all childhood dreams and how all children treat their dreams.

In like manner, there is also symbolism used to represent how children go through whatever it takes to try and achieve their dreams. One example of this is found In lines 19-21 where it says “I guess a few “Hey 4-eyes”/ might have made me want to reconsider”. This explains how the boy as he grows up is finally starting to doubt his dream and see the negatives of his it through the shroud of positivity that has been surrounding his thoughts throughout his childhood just like most other children. But this feeling of maturity is short lived because in In lines 28 and 29 it says “But dreams of transformation still tempted me”. this shows that the boys imagination and creativity have not yet fully been absorbed by more realistic views on life. He is at the age where he teaters between childhood fantasies and adult perspectives. Again, we can see the symbolism of the boys and his glasses as an accurate interpretation of growing up.

Finally, the last example of symbolism in this poem comes when the boys dreams finally are crushed when he grows up and his imagination is overtaken by his logic and reasoning. The first example of this that we see comes in lines 30-31 when it says “Now I’ve outgrown/ my childish ideas.” It is easy to see in this quote that the boy has grown up. He admits to himself that the idea was childish by doing so succumbs to the grasp of adulthood. Another example seen in the poem is in lines 34-35 where it says “I can finally see/ how lucky I am.”