What is a Spoof Venus and the Ark Q 3

Honestly, I though a spoof was more like a lie from the way I have heared it used. The definition of a spoof, however, from google is vebadum "A humorous imitation of something" therefore it would only stand to reason that Venus and the Ark is a spoof of the bible stories in a fresher point of view. Anne Sexton is trying to bring back a story that one does not see as very modern and bring it in to a new age. She does this in a great way which has already been over discussed by the members of the blog, but I would like to point out that this was written in the 1980's, in which the Cold War was still going on. This explains part of the reason it is written, because this nuclear threat was most feared during the Cold War era. Her poem was trying to get people thinking about the virtue of the bible( in a time where religion was an important part of American culture, not saying it is good or bad, just stating she is appealing to her audience) and how our race needs to be more understanding of each other.

"Venus and the Ark" - Questions I & III

I disagree with all the other posts I have read so far.  I believe they portray the mood of this poem in too optimistic a light.  "Venus and the Ark" is not one, but two spoofs.  The first spoof has already been thoroughly addressed by my classmates as a criticism of human nature, but the second, more subtle spoof almost isn't a spoof at all.

My interpretation views this poem as a criticism of the Noah and the Ark story itself.  Despite wiping out nearly all humanity and starting anew, the world still descended into a dystopian reality ended by thermonuclear war.  "Venus and the Ark" goes further than the original story by wiping out man completely and reverting back to the "Garden of Eden" scenario.  Despite even this, the poem ends with the beginning of the descent.

As the Ph.D.'s lay dying on "that last morning of death before the first of light" thinking "[t]his is the last of a man like me," the poem is interrupted by an "Until."  This extremely important preposition brings the story's optimism in new beginnings to a dramatic end.  The "Until" is immediately followed by a description of two fish creatures coming up "from the belly of the sea" and the sound of "the new fruit drop."

The "new fruit" refers to the "old" fruit from the biblical "Garden of Eden" story.  Although bearing the knowledge of good and evil, the fruit ultimately leads to the fall of man and eventually to the story of Noah and the nuclear hellfire of the twentieth century.  I believe this "new fruit" doesn't signal beginning anew, but the beginning of a cynical dystopian cycle.  Venus isn't a second chance; it's the beginning of the third failure.

Question 1 on "Venus and the Ark"

I have to disagree with Ashu's interpretation on the purpose of lines 27-29 and the way Sexton narrates them. Rather than being willfully ignorant of the incredible discovery of green life on Venus, the Ph.D.'s continent and the world acknowledges its existence. The finding was spread throughout the world by all of the technology used in communication in the modern world. However, the reaction was where Sexton made a statement about humanity's darker side. "Rival nations.. fired up their best atom blast", as they jealously wished to have a sense of power over this nation whose discovery had dwarfed any of theirs previously. Often, popular media is written and filmed on man's retaliation to loss of power - where humiliation turns into revenge. With such a loss, it is natural to wish to exert one back into a position of power in any way possible, and when this discovery of life gives its originating nation a commanding position on the path of the future, revenge is the answer for the rivals who have been humiliated so.

"Venus and the Ark" Question 1

Ashu said in his response that the scientists reported "back to the people on Earth who barely seem to care and continue on their nuclear wars". However, I think that Sexton meant to show that the people of Earth did care. Fifteen minutes of coverage on what was probably an hour long news show is actually quite a lot. It seemed to me that she meant to say that the "rival" nations were upset by the fact that another nation (America?) had beaten them to Venus and decided to nuke their enemy. At that point I think Sexton is trying to say that the people of Earth need to stop their trivial wars and work together for the greater good. If different nations continue to fight eventually nuclear weapons will be put to use and the world as we know it will be gone forever.

"Venus and the Ark" Question 1

I just have a few small points on which I disagree with Group C about this poem by Anne Sexton. I think Ashutosh and Nellie claimed that Earth did not seem to care at all about Venus. I read this part of the poem a little bit differently… The poem mentioned that a lot of attention was given to the discovery of “Venus is Green”, even though it was only 15 minutes. Sexton seemed to be trying to convey the message that in this future, people’s attention spans were so short that spending 15 minutes on a story is monumental. It also sounded like interrupting the weather forecast was a big deal. And because of the country celebrating due to the news, rival nations were jealous. This may be alluding to the space race, moon landing, etc. in history. Every nation was against each other, trying to one-up the other and prove that they were the most advanced and powerful by investing tons of money into the space program. And it seems in this poem that it has risen until the nations began a war to see who’s the most powerful, subsequently destroying the Earth. So, in a way, the discovery of “green” on Venus was the catalyst that destroyed the Earth, although it is likely that the destruction of Earth was going to happen eventually.

"Venus and the Ark" Question 3

   In the Old Testament of the Bible, God sends a flood to wipe out a corrupt humanity. God saves humanity however by having a man named Noah build an Ark to perverse earth and give humanity a second chance. By naming her poem "Venus and the Ark", Sexton is directly comparing her poem to the story set in the Bible. Sexton calls her story a "spoof" because it not only a parallels the Bible story, but also satires human nature. In Sexton's poem, humanity has once again been corrupted. She has two P.H.D's to gather animals, food and earth and place them in a balloon to restart life on Venus. The P.H.D's work is portrayed to be sloppy as Sexton uses words such as "almost", "stuffed", and others words. Sexton has no faith in humanity. The corruption and hatred of humanity is shown when countries destroy the earth with their best atomic bombs over a simple statement, "Venus is green". The only redemption humanity has rests on the two P.H.D's, who have landed on Venus. In a short amount of time the scientists fail and loose hope. With this, Sexton shows that in the end, humanity is doomed to fail.

Venus and the Ark - Question 1

I disagree with the idea that Venus and the Ark is a reference to Noah's Ark in the modern day light. In fact, this poem depicts the end of mankind. On the other hand, Noah's Ark refers to the beginning of mankind anew. In Noah's Ark, man (or Noah) protects the animals and guides them through the flood and resettlement. However, in this poem the animals seem to do a lot better without the help of man. They seem to be basking in glory and freedom after the humans freed them. In fact, this is a reference to the judgment day for mankind rather than Noah's ark.