Wendell's Essay

Wendell Frink

Mr. Salsich

9-English

11 May 2009

Parting Ways:

An Essay on Two Poems and a Movie

We experience the act of parting, or goodbyes, everyday. It’s as though saying goodbye is like tying your shoes- an essential part of your day and routine. When we say goodbye, we know that we will see that person again, like how we know that when we tie our shoes, they will come undone again. We notice parting in the poem “Adios” by Naomi Shihab Nye, a poem by Emily Dickinson, and in the movie “Armageddon.”

In the movie, “Armageddon,” directed by Michael Bay, the main character Harry Stamper experiences many instances of parting with things and people he loves. First, he has to part with the place that he loves the most-Earth. His mission, along with several others, is to fly to an asteroid, drill 800ft. into it, insert a nuclear warhead, and destroy it [Loose Sentence]. To do this, they must leave Earth and meet with the asteroid in space. In addition, each person on the mission parts with something in their life. The things left behind include a loved one, family members, a favorite thing, or in some cases, their life. Each person may or may not “disappear.” Everyone that leaves the earth must say “adios to you[r]” to everything and everyone.

In the poem “Adios” by Naomi Shihab Nye, the entire poem is about parting, not just a part of it. In the poem, Ms. Nye tries to explain why you must say “adios.” You can’t explain why you are leaving, for “the word explains itself.” Remember that everyone always parts with someone (it happens everyday), and is never explained. Also, when you say “adios,” let “everything, easily go.” Keep yourself free from everything, let things “disappear” within you. Instead of getting caught up in it, “think of what you love best” and build on that, make it a part of you and hold on for dear life. Whenever we sever [FAST] the ties with something, or say “adios,” let yourself be free.

Emily Dickinson’s idea of parting, saying goodbye, leaving, and sometimes never seeing again is very different from Ms. Nye’s [Periodic Sentence]. To Dickinson, parting is “so huge, so hopeless to conceive.” It seems as though she is saying that you can part with someone, but only for a moment. Never can you permanently be away from someone close to you. In addition, Dickinson says that parting is like a “hell” on earth. It seems as though it troubles her when she says goodbye, like there is some part that is missing. She believes goodbyes can last forever. Lastly, it seems like Dickinson has “died” twice- “my life closed twice.” Some small part of her passed on when she lost a loved one. Some small, vital part. Overall, Dickinson expressed vast [FAST] amounts of parting, of inconceivable hopes, and death.

Through every moment of our lives, through every blip in our lives, we say goodbye. We say goodbye to everything when we put our heads on the pillows at night, when our shoes come off and are untied. We know that tomorrow, our shoes will say hello to the ground we walk on once again. We know that tomorrow, we will be able to see the people who we have parted ways with in past days.