My Interpretation of “The Red Wheelbarrow” with Relations to Painting and Simplicity of Life

The Red Wheelbarrow

so much depends

upon

a red wheel

barrow

glazed with rain

water

beside the white

chickens.

Poems are not as straightforward as many will like them to be but the ambiguity creates different possibilities behind a poem’s meaning.  In “The Red Wheelbarrow,” by William Carlos Williams, his eight line poem appears straightforward but at the same time, it raises some questions.  Why did he separate his one sentence poem into four stanzas?  Why talk about a wheelbarrow and chickens? These two questions can be answered by knowing a bit about the author.  Williams is an American poet and an Imagist; he praises on creating beautiful images through his poems.  Thus, one possible representation of the poem is that he is introducing a form of the painting process through his enjambment and denotation.  Williams also centers his poems on everyday life.  Therefore, another representation of the poem introduces the simplicity of life through the use of the speaker.

The poem gives the reader the impression that they themselves are painting the image of a red wheelbarrow beside the white chickens.  For instance, painting an image takes time and it is done in more than one sitting.  There needs to be many pauses throughout the whole painting process.  Thus, this idea is similarly illustrated through the enjambment of the poem.  It is separated into four stanzas and after each one, there is a pause.  It is almost as if after each stanza, there is a break where the reader could stop and think.  Another impression of painting is also seen through the denotation of the word glazed on line five.  The poem introduces texture when it states that the red wheelbarrow is “glazed with rain/water.”  The Oxford English Dictionary definition states that glazed is having a smooth shining surface and it is also defined in painting of colours.  Thus, the definition gives a reference back to painting.

The simplicity of life is another main representation in Williams’ poem.  Williams portrays everyday living in his poems and specifically in “The Red Wheelbarrow,“ it is seen through its speaker.  For example, there is no speaker in this poem but it is intended for the reader to be the speaker.  Therefore, it is set for the reader to interpret the poem as their own and reflect on their past experiences of living in a simple life.  For example, a reader could stop and think about the simple principle of riding their bikes to school or going out to get the mail.  These and many other simple acts of life are reminded.

Another interesting way to interpret this poem is seen through the art.party.theater.company’s production of “so much depends upon [a red wheelbarrow].”  The art.party.theater.company is a group in the East Coast that is known for their bold performances.  They interpret this poem by emphasizing the first two lines of “so much depends/upon.”  They choose twenty-three issues, objects, and people to substitute for the red wheelbarrow.  The group experiments with the use of different words to replace the red wheelbarrow and discover the effects it has to a person’s ideas and interpretations.

art.party.theater.company website:

http://www.artpartytheatercompany.com/past_barrow.htm

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