Angie C. Litchfield, Prose

Poetry Critique

12/1998

Critique of Henry Reed's "Naming of Parts"

Reed’s "Naming of Parts" is a poem that illustrates Freud’s theory of ego, id and superego. Throughout the poem it portrays conflicting images of the rifle, which represents the superego, and the garden, which represents the id. The soldier who is learning the parts of the rifle is going through the conflict between what he wants and what society says he should want. After demonstrating all sides of the issue, the conflict between the id and superego is resolved by the soldier. He comes to grips with the fact that he must learn the parts of the rifle in order to become a successful soldier, and ignore the longings that his id has for freedom.

The person who is training the soldier on the naming of the parts of a rifle represents the superego. Reed utilizes the trainer to portray what the army is like and how it influences one soldier’s life by changing him from a dreaming boy to a mature and knowledgeable man. Throughout the poem you see the trainer demonstrating what the rifle is and how to use it.

"This is the lower sling swivel. And this

Is the upper sling swivel, whose use you will see,

When you are given your slings. And this is the piling swivel,

Which in your case you have not got." (7-10)

The trainer is methodically going through the parts of the rifle to explain them. This superego representation is the part of the soldier that knows this is what he should be and what society expects of him.

The soldier himself and his situation represent the ego. He has been drafted into the army, and knows he has to learn his job as a soldier. He has to live up to what is expected from him as a soldier. That is his current consciousness and his current goal. He must become what is expected of him.

Unfortunately what is expected from him and what his id desires are not the same, and this is shown throughout the poem. The reader sees images of a garden, possibly one near by the soldier. His thoughts keep drifting to the garden and what is in it, instead of focusing on learning the parts of the rifle.

"The branches

hold in the gardens their silent, eloquent gestures.

The blossoms

Are fragile and motionless, never letting anyone see..." (10-11, 16-17)

These lines demonstrate how the id is trying to force the boy to think about peaceful things such as freedom from the trainer and his constant naming of the parts of the rifle. The id is trying to get the soldier off track, for he secretly longs to be away from the duties of a soldier and walking in the peace and serenity of the garden.

In the end, the soldier resigns himself to where he is and what he must do. After reflecting on the garden and what is occurring in the garden, in the last line he simply states, "For today we have naming of parts." (31) This represents that even though he would really rather be in the garden, he knows that he is expected to be a soldier and learn his job as a soldier. His id cannot control his actions, or his current status as a soldier. He must not be foolish and do childish things, like playing in a garden. He must learn the parts of the rifle and do his job as a soldier well.

Work Cited

Reed, Henry. "Naming of Parts." Rpt. in Poems Poets Poetry. Ed. Helen Vendler. Boston: Bedford Books, 1997. 164.