EAT ME
SUMMARY: The poem explores the relationship between a woman and her ‘feeder’. The poem opens with
some ambiguity in their relationship that becomes clearer as it progresses. Throughout the poem, tensions
build between the speaker and her feeder until finally, at the end of the poem, she kills him.
MALE POWER & SHIFTING DYNAMICS:
Throughout ‘Eat Me’, Agbabi explores the presence of male power and shifting power dynamics throughout
the poem.
§ Opens with a cataphoric reference ‘he’, personified male gaze. Male gaze continued ‘Then he asked be
to get up and walk/ round the bed’ continued male gaze, with him remaining nameless
§ ‘did/ what I was told. Didn’t even taste it.’ Very passive, no pronouns highlighting how its casual and
involuntary (no enjoyment) with little regard for the speaker here. Enjambment highlights just following
instructions. Continues later ‘Open wide, poured olive oil down my throat” shows continued
submissiveness. Childlike with imperative, assonance and liquid ls making it very disturbing.
§ “The bigger the better,” he’d say’ casual tone, reflects its been normalised (disturbing), the present
tense showing it is regular. Direct quotes and how only he is allowed it. “Big girls, soft girls, girls I can
burrow inside’ Plural, generalised girls, all are being addressed and objectified, reduces them to
children and discusses in general (doesn’t just love her) with very material love.
§ “He was my cook” indicates the influence which he has over her, BUT possessive she has over him
possibly foreshadowing the control that she will gain
§ Connotations of domesticity and feminine imagery contrast the contents of the poem ‘layers of icing,
home-made’ and ‘icing was white but the letters were pink’. ‘EAT ME’ reminds us of childlike Alice in
Wonderland (but, first imperative used). Supported by use of possessives ‘His breadfruit. His desert
island” after shipwreck (but could imply that he needs her. More childlike ideas expressed with “Too fat
to be called chubby, cuddly, big built” all euphemisms used as a child which she is now beyond them.
§ Reclaiming power shown starting “I allowed him to stroke my globe of a cheek”. Seen to fully take back
power “How could I not roll over on top! I rolled and he drowned/ in my flesh. I drowned his dying
sentence” makes it seem inevitable, ironic submission eventually to instead what she wanted. Use of
first-person pronouns shows how she regained a sense of identity
DEHUMANIZATION OF THE SPEAKER:
§ Only discussed in relation to weight ‘a candle for each stone in weight’
§ Reduced to an object “I was his Jacuzzi” and described as a “Swelling like a forbidden fruit”. Jacuzzi
uses a possessive pronoun, also rejecting the power dynamics, and how she is there in relation to him.
Forbidden fruit shows that his pleasure is longer lasting and that she reflects his temptation/ sin.
§ Continued use of objects “A beached whale on a king-size bed/ craving a wave. I was a tidal wave of
flesh.” Indication that she is objectified, and also reflects how limiting it is to her, how it makes her
helpless. Implications that he could use her in a similar way to an object. Enjambment into the next
stanza highlighting her helplessness & overwhelmed.
DISTURBING OR UNHEALTHY COMMUNICATED TO READER:
§ “My only pleasure the rush of fast food” stops her from doing everything else, short term pleasure while
his is far more long lasting
§ Repetition of too fat (e.g. too fat to leave, too fat to buy a pint of full-fat milk, / too fat to use as an
emotional shield) highlights the obsession, with the fricatives and the anaphora conveying the distress
used. Convey the undesirable excess to the reader more effectively
§ “The day I hit thirty-nine,” makes reader realise it is stone, shocking. Sobering reality, short subordinate
clause mentions it naturally and dismissively.
§ “His eyes bulging with greed. / There was nothing left in the house to eat” Very ambiguous, but it is
ultimately his fault, does she eat him, the impact of his feeding upon her.
, CHAINSAW VERSUS THE PAMPAS GRASS
SUMMARY: The poem depicts the speaker and the chainsaw’s battle against the forces of nature in the pampas
grass. Throughout the poem, the speaker attempts to battle and cut down the pampas grass. While, eventually,
the speaker does succeed, the pampas grass regrows and the speaker ultimately is unsatisfied.
PERSONIFICATION OF THE CHAINSAW
§ Described like animal ‘grinding its teeth in a plastic sleeve’, seems aggressive. Continued when it is
“fed it out like powder from a keg, / then walked back to the socket and flicked the switch” seems
continually to be like an animal. Preparation for it, indicates the danger, but seems very systematic.
Harsh ‘k’ sounds indicate the harshness of the gun.
§ ‘The chainsaw with its bloody desire, its sweet tooth/ for the flesh of the face and bones underneath,’
Makes it seem like a dangerous animal, undermining the idea between synergy between the user or
reflecting its thoughts.
§ “Back below the stairs on its hook the chainsaw seethed” sense of sulking, reminds us that it is a cycle,
and that it will likely return in a year. The final stanza emphasises the lack of power it has, and that it only
has one purpose “Through its man-made dreams, / to try to forget. / The seamless urge to persist was
as far as it got.” It is failed, with the sibilance emphasising the frustration it feels.
PORTRAYAL OF VIOLENCE
§ Visceral imagery ‘juices ran from its joints and threads, / oozed across the guide bar’ visceral imagery,
destructive and angry.
§ “I trailed the Day-Glo orange power-line / the length of the lawn and the garden path” Highlights the
juxtaposed natures of these two things, and the ultimate battle here between man and nature.
§ Danger of the chainsaw conveyed “Just an instant rage/ the rush of metal lashing out at air, connected
to the main”. Still highlights that the chainsaw is reliant, but shows the anger and how it is destined to
do this with ‘perfect disregard’. The fighting the nature reflects that it is oxymoronic.
§ “I let it flare, lifted it into the sun”. Very violent imagery, evokes fear of it, the unpredictable nature of it,
evokes fear. A moment of victory out of the darkness.
§ “This was the sledgehammer taken to crack the nut” hyperbolic, almost masculine and shows how
unnecessarily violent it is. Chainsaw seems inevitable to win. Ease continues “I dabbed at a stalk that
swooned, docked a couple of heads, / dismissed the top third of its canes with a sideways sweep / at
shoulder height – this was a game”. Listing with short clauses highlights how easy it is, undermining the
violence. Personification of grass makes it more violent and disturbing.
FEMININE VS MASCULINE IMAGERY
§ Another way of conveying conflict within this poem. Chainsaw described as masculine ‘it knocked back
a quarter-pint of engine oil’, with oil being destructive as well, yet it is reliance on it.
§ ‘The pampas grass with its ludicrous feathers/ and plumes” is the introduction of feminine imagery,
sibilance reminds us of birds, short stanza is very effortless compared to the chainsaw. Knows its
position “Stealing the show with its footstools, cushions and tufts” has the overpowering in the garden,
very show-like and glamourous compared to the chainsaw.
§ “All that was needed […] or a pitchfork to lever it out at its base. / Overkill.” Masculine anger
demonstrated, with it being easy with the ‘blur of the blade’ emphasising this
§ “Plant juice spat from the pipes and tubes / and dust flew out as I ripped into pockets of dark, secret
warmth.” Reminds us of blood and the brutal nature of it, shows anger and there is a suggestion of
sexual conquest, seems almost like a rape (treatment of women by masculine). Sexual imagery
continued with “drove it vertically downwards into the upper roots” sexual imagery with somewhat
juxtapositions.
VICTORY OF NATURE
, § Ultimate lack of power of the chainsaw conveyed “All winter unplugged” (only has power in certain
scenarios). “Weightless wreckage” is contrasting images, highlight the simultaneous presence and
absence of power within the chainsaw.
§ The grass is in its element “Taking in the warmth and light/ from cuttings and bulbs” shows that it fits in
and is dominant in the garden. “its twelve-foot spears.’ It has a natural defence, and will ultimately be
more powerful.
§ Even when the grass has been reduced to a “flat stump the size of a manhole cover” the grass still has
victory as “the blade became choked with soil or fouled with weeds,” man versus nature clear, even
when it’s not just the grass, unwholesome imagery. It is pointless to fight against nature as it is “like
cutting at water or air with a knife”
§ “In the weeks that came new shoots like asparagus tips / sprang up from its nest” Sentence of regrowth,
its effortless and inevitable. Nest is animal like, sense of intention. Short stanza, cyclical. ‘riding high in
its saddle, wearing a new crown. / Corn in Egypt.” Victory, natural regain of a crown. Sense of victory
and pride with the personification, as if a victory from a battle, biblical reference / idiom, an abundance.
Short sentence reflects defeat
SYNERGY BETWEEN THE CHAINSAW AND THE HUMAN
§ Mechanical seeming human. “Walked again / and coupled the saw to the flex- clipped them together.
/ Then dropped the safety catch, and gunned the trigger.” Many verbs make it seem like this, with it
seeming like they are going into battle.
§ ‘And felt the hundred beats per second drumming in its heart, / and felt the drive wheel gargle in its
throat” emphasises connection between the two of them, as well as further personifying the chainsaw
as a dangerous being.
§ Once the chainsaw is gone, the speaker seems careless “I poured barbecue fluid into the patch / and
threw in a match […] I left it at that.” Rhyming reflects a lack of care or effort, with it being unsatisfactory
and dismissive end, emphasised by the caesura.
, MATERIAL
SUMMARY: The speaker reflects upon her mother, and her connection with hankies and the way she raised the
speaker. The speaker reflects upon the nostalgia of the past, before comparing it to the disconnection of the
current world and the way she raises her own children: reflected within her use of tissues instead of hankies.
FAMILY
§ “My mother was the hanky queen” emotional connection indicated, immediate indications of the past
and change. Memories continue “Hankies were material/ she’d have one, always, up her sleeve” tactile
imagery reflects the regret she feels
§ “There’s never a hanky up my sleeve. / I raised neglected-looking kids, / the kind whose noses strangers
clean.” Contrasts the specified connection in previous stanza, and reflects how she has lost her family
values due to her loss of hankies
§ “But it isn’t mine. I’ll let it go. / My mother too, eventually” Reflects that the mother still has influence,
even when considering the future. Short sentences reflect the reluctant acceptance of the speaker.
§ “Who died not leaving handkerchiefs / but tissues and uncertainty” reflects how the mother is altered
by the changing world, she regrets it somewhat. The final lines of direct speech reflect the lasting
impression the mother has on the daughter.
NOSTALGIA AND REGRET
§ “Tucked in the wrist of every cardi, / a mum’s embarrassment of lace/ embroidered with a V for V” the
feminine imagery and generalisation of every woman reflects the idea of longing and idealisation of
the past. Continues “Spittled and scrubbed against my face” sibilance evokes greater sense of nostalgia
and further allows reader to understand the perspective
§ “One fell out / as if she had a farm up there / where dried-up hankies fell in love” this reflects the
idealisations of a child and further gives a sense of nostalgia
§ Continued nostalgia “With the hanky’s loss / greengrocer George with his dodgy foot / delivering veg
from a Comma van / is history” colloquial language, thought and specific names reflects the connection
that there used to be. Old images further this, continuing with “the friendly butcher / who’d slip an extra
sausage in / the fishmonger whose marble slab” gives a sense of community in the past, now lost.
Figures over time who are lost like hankies. The visual imagery and enjambment at the end of this
paragraphs and stanzas reflects getting lost in the reminiscing.
§ “Lay opposite the dancing school / where Mrs White, with painted talons, taught us When You’re
Smiling” continued use of name reflects the familiarity. Rest of the stanza such as “stumbling, out of tune
piano: / step-together, step-together, step-together, / Point!” emphasises the sense of community and
the endearing nature. Repetition further draws the reader in, which is then further linked back to hankies
“Every mother, fencing tears, / would whip a hanky from their sleeve / and smudge the rouge from little
dears” reflects the link to the material
MODERNISATION
§ Indications of modernisation immediate seen ”When hanky meant a thing of cloth, / not paper tissues
bought in packs” reflects ideas of fleeting and unimportant in the modern world
§ Images of “Hankies that closed department stores, / with headscarves, girdles, knitting wool” the
nostalgic imagery of the past reflects the sense of past identity, that contrasts ideas that “you’d never
find today in malls.” The direct comparison of the settings reflects the modernisation
§ Contrasting ideas in the next stanza which a shift in structure and tone “Nostalgia only makes me old. /
The innocence I want my brood / To cling on to like ten-bob notes / was killed in TV’s lassitude” reflects
the lack of originality and anonymity. Loss of family bond in the modern age, facilitated by mother “And
it was me who turned it on / to buy some time to write this poem / and eat bought biscuits I would bake
/ if I’d commit to being home”. We see the continued lack of personal aspects, and the self-critical
nature due to her part in it.
