"Lobsters" Discussion

On Tuesday of this week, our class held two consecutive discussions regarding the poem "Lobsters", by Howard Nemerov. The first of these, which I participated in, mainly contained conversation concerning the relationship between lobsters and humans, as well as the final lines of the poem: "Thinking: There's something underneath the world. The flame beneath the pot that boils the water." (Nemerov). One interesting comparison brought up in the discussion was that of the poem being similar to To Kill A Mockingbird in terms of misunderstanding. Humans not understanding the lobsters were stated to be analogous to the white population of Maycomb not understanding the black population. Consequently, the formers of both situations would mistreat the latter in each.

This comment and its resulting conversation made me think more deeply about lobster-human relationship in the poem. My thoughts on the theme and message had mainly revolved around what only the lobsters represented, not including the corresponding human symbolism. I had also formerly given comparison of the lobsters in their tank to being similar to humans in our society. However, with the introduction of the human aspect, I became aware of a great amount more of existing symbolism. It enlightened me to the fact that the connection between humans and lobsters in the poem could be compared to many other existing situations in addition to the example of whites misunderstanding and mistreating blacks. After the discussion, I had gained a much deeper and layered view of the symbolic material in "Lobsters". As a result, I came to better understand the meaning that the author had most likely intended to convey.