You Fit Into Me – Margaret Atwood

At first glance, this poem is nothing more than a disturbing image of a literal hook in an eyeball, but thinking a bit more, you realize that this is a beautiful image; an image of true love, of desire, of that one person that fits perfectly. Atwood begins this beautiful expression with something that we all understand, “you fit into me.” All of us, being part of humanity understand what it feels like to have that one relationship that can never go away; we all have that one (or more) person that always has to be in our life, no matter what. That is what we see right off the bat in this poem. What she continues with, though gives us some other, less understood thoughts.

“a fish hook/an open eye’ These are two things that should never go together, but if you think for just a second about a fish hook, what is it meant for? It is made to go into the eye, that other part of the hook. In just those few words, Atwood has found a way to describe the feeling of love, of finding a perfect match. She has made us all sit and just, questioning what it is she really meant in those words. So what does she mean? Is it a bad fit, a literal eye? Or is it a great one, like a clasp? Let’s face it, poetry is rarely literal. This idea of a fish hook and eye gives these both grotesque and gorgeous images. Atwood did an amazing job portraying here the emotion of love itself, both grotesque and gorgeous.

The question of which side we see though is up to us. And that is the point I get from this poem. We will always see whatever it is we chose to see and it doesn’t really matter if that is the grotesque or gorgeous side of it. For me though, it’s always beneficial to look to all the sides, to understand before taking a side, to know what it’s like to be on the other side. With love especially, there is no right answer, no fact or fiction, and that is the way we should view it: With our own interpretation.