"The Great Figure" Explication

 Summary-

“The Great Figure” by William Carlos Williams is about a fire truck that is driving through a city, and the figure 5 painted on the side of it. He focuses on how something so great and significant such as “the figure 5 in gold” can be so easily disregarded, or “unheeded” as he puts it. Despite all of the “gong clangs” and “siren howls” which should attract a lot of attention, people are so desensitized to it that they ignore it. He keeps his poem very simple and short, and yet he very clearly gets the idea of isolation across.

Analysis-

Williams uses a lot of imagery in this poem in order to set a dreary and dark setting, which is shown in the lines “among the rain and lights” and “dark city.” He also adds a lot of contrast between the imagery of the fire truck and the setting, for example the figure 5 is shown “in gold on a red firetruck” which adds color against the dark scenery. I think he does this in order to make the fire truck and figure 5 stand out a lot, so that it seems even more like it shouldn’t be disregarded. He also described the fire truck as being very loud with its “wheels rumbling” as well as the description of “siren howls” and “gong clangs” which puts even more emphasis on it. Portraying such a bright, loud, and dominant figure against this dark background of a setting and also saying that it is “unheeded” he is making the point that people are unseeing and uncaring. He is also making an effort to make us see, and make us more perceptive to the things that go on around us.