The Black Walnut Tree Analysis

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From the biblical Tree of Knowledge to J.K. Rowling’s Whomping Willow, trees have proved to be good for more than just oxygen, shade, and paper, but emblems of power, beauty and corruption as well. But these time-chiseled elders of the literary universe have long awaited spring’s beating heart, trapped in a winter of monotony. It is in the poem “The Black Walnut Tree”; however, that Mary Oliver breathes new life into these ancient creatures as a family debates between paying their debt and chopping down their walnut tree, a source of fond memories for them. Through the use of imagery, similes, and metaphors, Oliver elucidates that the gnarled tree in the backyard of the speaker, a presumably young girl, represents the value of her family and …show more content…
Nevertheless, the ominous imagery of the “dark boughs” and “storm churning” indicate that the tree is a cause of great strife and chaos for the family (6-7). These images of the gloom and obscurity of an oncoming tempest also build suspense— “the leaves are getting heavier” just as the financial burden of the family continues to grow and their mortgage payments loom over them (13). It would be all too simple to chop the walnut tree and sell it to be used as timber, but they cannot bring themselves to do so. The narrator and her mother would “crawl with shame” if they chopped down the tree: if they allowed their disastrous finances to drive a wedge between them (27). These austere images draw a parallel between the hardships of the tree and those family must endure in terms of their economic standing. As the strain on their pocketbook grows, so will the tensions between each member, just as the branches of the tree will bow and contort in the face of gale-force winds. The family will experience a temporary divide, but like the tree which cannot be extricated from their backyard, their love and compassion for one another will survive in spite of the …show more content…
Before, the apprehension stemmed from the shamefulness of the consequences were the narrator’s family to sell the tree and disregard the sacrifices made by their ancestors, but now, even though the tree has not been sold, there is a sense of trepidation due to the financial suffering the family must withstand in exchange for keeping this nostalgic emblem. It is with a resigned tone that the narrator proclaims “so the black walnut tree/ swings through another year of […] the whip/crack of the mortgage” (30-35). The emphasis on “another” year creates the sense that it was by some miracle that the tree was able to persist: the hardships are as enduring as the tree’s tenacity. It is able to outlast the overarching question of its demise because the family treasures its significance— just as they treasure their enduring feelings for one another. They may fight occasionally, but, ultimately, their quarrels are trivial in comparison to what would be lost if their relationship were to crack and sever like limbs snapping from a tree. In addition, the stark contrast between the images of “sun and bounding fruit” and the “whip/crack of the mortgage” illustrates that there will always be positives and negatives in the family’s relationship, just as there will always be benefits and detriments of keeping the tree, but nothing is truly capable of rupturing their bond
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