Analysis of "The Catch" by Stanley Kunitz

Essay by GMXHigh School, 10th gradeA-, June 2004

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The lesson being taught in this poem is that there is a price for everything we have, and knowledge cannot be captured in a "bottle". The dragonfly is described in the poem as this little delicate creation which is very maneuverable and acrobatic. Less image than thought is saying the dragonfly has very little to show on top where things are obvious, this is an effective simile because people tend to think of bugs as having a very small brains. The dragonfly later on becomes the victim of the father. The child would not suspect that something as little and innocent looking can actually have a catch to it. The dragonfly is being compared to a hidden price is a very effective simile because it can disguise it self and not be found until it is too late. The poem also says "Swoosh went the net with a practiced hand" and the author implies that the father is an experienced man who already ran into something that had a catch to it, he is trying to use the bug as an example to his son to teach him what he learned the hard way.

The dragonfly is killed when it's captured and that shows how you can kill knowledge when you try to capture it. Killing the knowledge when trying to collect it is the whole catch to it. I can relate to the lesson taught in this poem. I can think of a lot of times when my parents talked to me about something but later that week I'd go and do the exact opposite. For example every winter my mom told me to wear my jacket but I'd just run off outside without it and every winter I would get sick, now that I grew up a...