Fan Fiction ❯ Nothing But a Doll ❯ Nothing but a Doll ~ edited ( Chapter 1 )

Lydia Gerlach

English I Acc. - P. 4

January 10, 2005

Nothing but a Doll

I don't remember how I got there

Or for how long I've been with her

The little girl that always held onto me

So tight

In times of joy

And sorrow

When tears were shed

For all of the wrong reasons

One quiet night

Before the ruthlessness

They threw rocks

And wrecked our home

We hid, but they took

Daddy and Grandpa

But they came back

Some weeks later

But they were not the same

Grandpa died a little later

She didn't know why

And she was sad

I didn't know what to do

I couldn't do anything

I was nothing but a doll to her

And all I could do was watch

â- â- â-

We moved then

I didn't know why

And neither did she

But it wasn't fun like we were used to

She was weak

So weak

Weak with hunger

All I could do was watch

Clasped between her arms

All I could do was quietly

Comfort and console

As painful tears streamed down her cheeks

Her gift was

My gift

They were one in the

Same

I got new clothes

She was happy, I think

I was happy if she was

That was a good day

There was nothing to eat

She was upset

I was saddened

That was a bad day

I didn't know what to do

I couldn't do anything

I was nothing but a doll to her

And all I could do was watch

Or so I thought

â- â- â-

Time passed

There were ups

And downs

We got used to it

Few were good

But most were bad

One day in particular

Was dreadful

I stared as the scene unfolded

before my glass eyes

The giant beat her as if she were

already dead.

he did not even bat an eyelid

as he struck her again and again, she

writhed in pain, and pleaded

to the monster, who in truth,

could not hear what she cried.

The little girl watched the giant

pound into her mother

She whimpered softly

This sob escaped all ears but mine.

I watched as the days passed,

Then months,

And then years.

But then

It was all over

Life was not the same

As it had been before

the ruthlessness

But it was better now

That's when she gave me

A tight squeeze

And whispered in my

So-called ear,

"Thank you."

I now knew what to do

Smile.

I was more than just a doll to her

And all I needed to do was watch.

Lydia Gerlach

English I Acc. - P. 4

January 11, 2005

Poem Analysis

In Nothing but a Doll, the meaning and tone are expressed in a somewhat blunt way. The meaning or purpose if my poem, is to express some of the emotions that (in my opinion) victims of the Holocaust were feeling. If it doesn't convey the feelings that the victims themselves were feeling, I believe that it is of a kind hearted person that was there, but not necessarily a prisoner in the concentration camps. I think that the tone of my poem is one that pities Inge, but one that also wishes that they could've something to help.

I tried to use several literary devices in my poem. By using many types, I tried to make my poem seem dark yet (not necessarily happy) bright at the same time. I tried using enjambment in the italicized parts to create a painful feeling, to where you almost wince when you read that stanza. (I'm not trying to sound informal, but does enjambment have anything to do with the actual shape of the poem? I found in that in the packet, there were some instances where the words in the poem related to the shape, to extent of course. For example, in The Execution of Memory, on the last line of the first stanza, it says, "spats splash". To me, the way the stanzas were set up in a certain way that to me, it looked like splashes. Well, anyway, back to the point…) I made the italicized part in an `S' like shape, trying to make the poem itself look like it was writhing in pain. In the italicized part I also used imagery, trying to depict the scene as almost real. Repetition played a very important part in my poem also. I even repeated a whole stanza. I tried to show that when someone (or in this case, something) thinks something, it's really hard to see what's really going on because they are to emotionally wrapped up in the situation. I also used a lot of alliteration. In the stanza:

Clasped between her arms

All I could do was quietly

Comfort and console

As painful tears streamed down her cheeks

I used the "c" sound a lot to instill a sense of short, choppy sounds. I thought that in the concentration camps, there wasn't much time to comfort yourself, let alone another person. I wanted to show that if the doll were human, it would do what a real person would do. They would help the girl when they could, in the short amounts of time that they could.