The Man on the Dump Close Reading

Abstract

This essay reads Wallace Stevens’ “The Man on the Dump” closely in an effort to clarify my personal poetics. Language itself––its materiality––stands at the forefront of this analysis. In general, the essay considers the relationship between medium and meaning, pointing to various ways Stevens uses language (sign, quotation, allusion, speech act, sound, etc.) and discussing the consequences of these choices. While denotative meaning is the ostensible goal (and a difficult one at that), much in the way that Stevens writes, what meaning can be derived from this analysis more often comes by the question of “how?” than “what?”. Ultimately, instability and ambiguity are granted value, despite what concessions from these values must be made in demonstrating said value.