Execution final draft - Grade: A PDF

Preview

Summary

Essay...

Description

Shores 1 Jessica Shores Dr. Campbell ENGL 1102 10 December 2019 Unexpected Endings in Edward Hirsch’s “Execution” Edward Hirsch presents an unusual meaning of the word execution in the poem “Execution.” During an interview, Hirsch recalled when the word execution developed a second meaning for him. According to Hirsch, the word provides its usual meaning “in terms of making a play perfectly work,” but it also presents “tremendous overtones in terms of mortality” (“Interview,” par. 9). The speaker of the poem compares the execution of football to the eventual execution caused by cancer. While each act of execution is drastically different, there are similarities between the two. Like a football game, death can also be fought. However, this does not necessarily guarantee a win. Cancer, much like a game against “a downstate team,” might result in a loss (Hirsch 30). The coach knows this, but he still pushes his team with an “unquestioning faith,” hoping for the “perfect execution” (Hirsch 12, 34). At the beginning of the poem, the speaker presents the usual meaning of the word execution. The speaker recalls a time when his coach meticulously planned out numerous plays (Hirsch 5-8). The board starts off neatly organized, but soon turns into a “spiderweb of options” (Hirsch 7). The coach needs to ensure that the team is never stunned by the rival teams’ plays. The previously tidy “chalkboard” transforms into a complex series of possibilities (Hirsch 4). Similarly, the once familiar life of the coach turned into one of unknowingness. No matter how thoroughly you plan, there is always a chance of the unexpected happening. While the speaker’s team puts in a great deal of effort, the opposing team does the same. Much like a rivalry between

Shores 2 teams, the coach is in a battle against his cancer-stricken body. The coach is the playmaker for his football team, but his face is a drawing board for signs of cancer, “like intricate / Drawings on the chalkboard, small x’s and o’s” (Hirsch 3-4). The speaker accentuates the fact that his coach trusts in football as one does “religion” (Hirsch 11). The coach devoted his life to planning out and executing “the ideal game” (Hirsch 19). In my opinion, the coach relies on football as an “unquestioning faith” because he can no longer map out his life (Hirsch 12). The coach sees football as “warfare / Without suffering or death” (Hirsch 14-15). On the other hand, the coach is currently in a war with himself; a war that is bound for fatality. Despite the coach’s best efforts to prepare his team for battle, they moved farther and farther away from “harmony” (Hirsch 15). The idea of the perfect game started to slip out of the coach’s sight. The thought of losing both his life and his “new religion” served as a turning point in the coach’s life. Execution became a necessity of salvation. Not only did the coach want to protect his team from failing, he also wanted to save himself from the unknown. No matter how many “last-second plays” he planned out, there is always a chance of “defeat” (Hirsch 22-23). Because the coach does not see loss as an option, he pushed and “challenged” his team to the maximum (Hirsch 21-22). It seems as if the coach put more effort into football championship than into his own health: “He despised losing / And loved winning more than his own body…” (Hirsch 2425). He is devoted to the spirit of the game, just as one might be devoted to their religion. There is a better chance of winning a football game than winning the battle against cancer. Therefore, the coach puts all his effort into the perfect game because the outcome is more likely. The speaker determines that the “downstate team” they lost to is like the eventual death caused by cancer (Hirsch 30). The opposing team, much like cancer, is unpredictable. The

Shores 3 unpredictability leaves room for vulnerability, a chance to attack. Perhaps this is why the coach pushed his team to limits and made numerous plays; he did not want to leave any room for weakness to creep in. The speaker concludes that weakness will always find a way in. Death is just like the “downstate team;” it has “a vengeance” that cannot be stopped (Hirsch 30, 32).

Shores 4 Works Cited Hirsch, Edward. “An Interview with Edward Hirsch.” Interviewed by Zachary Greenberg. Nashville Review, Vanderbilt U, 1 December 2010, https://as.vanderbilt.edu/nashvillereview/archives/3120. Accessed 08 December 2019. Hirsch, Edward. “Execution.” 1989. Edward Hirsch, Poet, http://www.edwardhirsch.com/ poetry/execution//120/. Accessed 08 December 2019....