"The Red Wheelbarrow" Explication

Summary-

The poem “The Red Wheelbarrow” by William Carlos Williams is much like his other poems in that he creates a very simple image. In this case, he creates an image of a red wheelbarrow with rain on it, next to white chickens. The red wheelbarrow is the main focal point of the poem, and the rest of the poem is used to describe it. Williams says that “so much depends upon” the wheelbarrow, which also gives it some importance.

Analysis-

Williams once again uses contrast between the “red wheel barrow” and the “white chickens,” which is his way of causing the wheelbarrow to stand out more. This contrast also shows the major difference between the wheelbarrow and the chickens in the sense that the wheelbarrow is a man-made machine and the chickens are natural. This could be saying something about how even though the wheelbarrow is something man-made and created to make life easier, it is still disregarded and seemingly meaningless to people. He also says that “so much depends upon” it, which makes me think that people use it every day and that it is a big part of their lives. But after giving this wheelbarrow so much importance, Williams also says that it is “glazed with rain water” which suggests that despite so much depending upon it, it was left out in the rain. This neglectful image combined with the importance that is also given to the red wheelbarrow shows how even though people depend on it, people are too careless and negligent to take care of it in the right way.