The Surgeon At 2 am (1) - Sylvia Plath (General English - Semester 1)

Surgeon at 2 am by Sylvia Plath

Introduction

Sylvia Plath was  a  popular Pulitzer Prize winning author best known for her works “The Bell Jar”, “Colossus” and “Ariel”. Plath is commended for her in-depth abstract literature. Sylvia Plath was a reflective intelligent poet who was affected with depression which led to her committing suicide at age 31.

Sylvia Plath faced hospitalisation for a  miscarriage and appendicitis. These two incidents caused her to visualise herself in the brain of a surgeon. Sylvia Plath was hospitalised in ST Pancras hospital in London and all her observations are based on this experience. Sylvia Plath also suffered from severe mental breakdowns and clinical depression due to a bad marriage and had tried to commit suicide previously. This poem was written two years before she died.

Summary

The poem starts from the personal narrative of a male surgeon and description of the atmosphere surrounding the surgery. The surgeon is described as the sole authority figure with complete control. He says "A snowfield, frozen and peaceful”, referring  to the fact that the man is calm, composed, alone and efficient in his work.
He also says "The microbes cannot survive it” as a reference to the reliability, sterility and hygiene of his equipment and himself and also as a means of introducing death as a common neighbour to the hospital. 


The poet then speaks about the beauty of the human body. He views the dissected body as a garden. He speaks about blood as “an oozy jamming substances” and the veins and  Cords as “a mat of roots”. He speaks about the heart and the lung as trees branching out using the arteries, nerves and veins as branching coils.
The complex arrangement of these coils look like snakes to his eye and he is so in awe of the garden that he feels tiny. The surgeon’s love for anatomy and imagination is clearly highlighted here.


In the third stanza, the author dehumanises the body and gets consumed into his work. The surgeon appears almost reluctant to “seal off” the mass of veins and leave the garden, this insinuates that the surgeon is more comfortable working on bodies than in the real world. The surgeon also rhapsodises the skill of the Romans and claims the body to be a Roman thing built with the same precision as the aqueducts and the baths of Caracella.This shows his respect for the logic, routine and sensibility of the Romans  and his love for Roman architecture. He appears to pay more respect to the disciplinary side of humans than the emotional side.

In the fourth and fifth stanza, the surgeon speaks of finishing his surgery. The surgeon speaks of the  body like a masterpiece which he has perfected. The surgeon makes a mention about a small blue light making the patient float. This is a reference to morphine and the relief it gives to patients under pain. The blue light is what the patient sees first after the surgery and the morphine gives the patient relief from pain.


At the end, the surgeon uses the term “gauze sarcophagi” to denote the fact that his patients are the living dead when under anaesthesia. Then he gives himself the position of historian, scientist and gardener. He asserts the importance of his work and his authority. He speaks of himself as the sun ushering dawn for his patients who follow him.

Themes

Atmosphere surrounding a surgery
Dehumanisation of humans by the surgeon
Thoughts of surgeons regarding their view of the human body and their importance
Total incapacitation of patient
Effect of morphine and pain killers on patients
Depression of author

Poetic Devices

Metaphors- 
“the scalded sheet is a snowfield”
“the heart is a red bell bloom”
“the blood is a sunset”
"the body is a roman thing”
“the red night lights are flat moons” 
“I am the sun”
Similes – 
“hygienic as heaven” 
“the soul’s light has receded like a ships light”
Personification – 
“tonight the parts are entombed in an icebox, tomorrow they will swim” 
 "the microbes are departing in their transparent garments, turned aside”










Comments

  1. DAKSH23 September 2018 at 01:29

    THIS SUMMARY IS VERY GOOD

    ReplyDelete
  2. anu d yadv28 April 2019 at 09:55

    It's so much helpful

    ReplyDelete
  3. Unknown15 May 2020 at 18:38

    amazing summary and really helpful

    ReplyDelete
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