The Book of Questions by Pablo Neruda is a complicated and stimulating poem that encourages readers to delve deeper into the fundamental questions of life and reality. From the very beginning, the speaker asks a set of four questions that are seemingly unrelated to one another at first glance. The questions touch upon such subjects and themes as nature, with its flowers and trees, change of seasons or change of days of the week, everyday things such as cars or trains, or abstract notions such as time and feelings. All of the questions that the author asks relate to the way in which people would perceive beauty, truth, and other things that surround them in life. Being composed completely of interrogatives, the value of the poem is rooted in Neruda’s openness to ask any questions that he desired, without being afraid to seem ridiculous. The aims of this rhetorical analysis is to explore the tactics and techniques that the author uses to get his point across.
Personification is among the prominent literary devices that the author uses continuously in the poem. In the first lines, the speaker asks readers, “is the rose naked or is that her only dress?” (Neruda 3). The question is rhetorical and does not require and answer, however it is intended for inspiring the audience to consider the implications. By saying that a rose has a dress, the author uses personification as an opportunity to ascribe human-like qualities to inanimate objects. In art, rose is typically used as a symbol of love, passion, beauty, and in the case of the poem, a woman. Therefore, the speaker assigns feminine qualities to the rose, asking his readers to think of the rose from a different standpoint. The author wonders whether the rose is concealing something from others. Another example of personification is in the lines, “why do trees conceal the splendor of their roots?” (Neruda 3) Again, there is an idea of hiding something from others, which is the quality that is inherent to humans. The speaker gets the audience to think about the different ways in which people would focus on the outcomes and final effects while neglecting to consider the root causes of some issues.
“How many questions does a cat have?” is another illustration of personification in the poem, which is quite common overall (Neruda 8). Humans often ascribe human qualities to their pets by saying that they understand what people are saying. “At whom does the rice smile with infinitely many white teeth?” or “Why do leaves commit suicide when they feel yellow?” are more examples of personification (Neruda 11). Giving human attributes to plants or animals makes the questions more vivid and complicating, helping to challenge the commonly-accepted views on life and perceptions. Personification is imperative for adding an emotional undertone to the poem.
Antithesis and oxymoron are also prevalent in the poem and used to facilitate further confusion on the part of readers. “If flies make honey will they offend the bees?” illustrates a switch of roles that is unnatural (Neruda 40). “What is it that upsets the volcanoes that spit fire, cold and rage?” is an example of an oxymoron – there is a juxtaposition of cold and volcanoes, which are usually hot and spit fire (Neruda 8). The use of ‘cold’ in this case denotes the feeling of fear and desperation that the eruption of a volcano could bring. “If all rivers are sweet where does the sea get its salt?” opposes sweetness and saltiness, which are universal qualities understandable to others (Neruda 72). However, rivers are not sweet but are written to be such to contrast them to salty waters of the sea.
Metaphors are used in the poem to strengthen its emotional influence on readers. “In which language does rain over tormented cities?” (Neruda 66) In this line, cities are “tormented” to signify the challenges and barriers that can take place, and when the rain falls, it soothes the struggles and leaves a blank page. “Who can convince the sea to be reasonable?” also points to the challenges that the sea can bring to travelers (Neruda 66). Sea is being unreasonable most likely when there are storms, which come and go unexpectedly. Simile has been found in a few examples; however, its purpose is similar to that of metaphors and personifications – helping readers delve deeper into the nature of being. “Why do my faded clothes flutter like a flag?” and “Does a word sometimes slither like a serpent?” are illustrations of a simile that challenge the way in which people look at everyday things (Neruda 64).
Personification has shown to be the core rhetorical strategy that Pablo Neruda uses in The Book of Questions. The author intentionally ascribes human qualities to natural and other phenomena to show that they exist together with the human world and should not be separated. Personification and other devices identified in the analysis give additional emotional meaning to the questions raised in the poem, encouraging readers to reflect on them personally.
Work Cited
Neruda, Pablo. Libro de Las Preguntas. The Book of Questions. Copper Canyon Press, 2001.