22 pages • 44 minutes read
Margaret AtwoodThe Circle Game
Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1964A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Circle
A circle is a timeless symbol connecting the beginning with the ending, suggesting infinity and eternity, as in the circle of life, and repetitive motion. While this concept per se is neutral, Atwood’s use of the symbolism explores more negative realities. The poem employs circular imagery immediately, opening with the children linking arms with “each arm going into / the next arm, around / full circle” (Lines 4-6). In the last section of the poem, there is “[s]ummer again” (Line 236), and the children join “arm in arm” once again (Line 261), suggesting the repetitive seasonal cycle of games is almost automatic. In the last line of the poem, the speaker says, “I want the circle / broken” (Lines 294-295), showing that the circle—ironically, despite its geometric and conceptual perfection—is not an ideal. Just as the poem could go on and on with sections discussing the various games of both children and adults, so, too, can generations go on and on, season after season, playing the same games without questioning or enjoyment.
Wasp
The wasp’s symbolism is subtle, illustrating the human capacity for change—though the pressure to change may initially be met with resistance. In section vii,
(a wasp comes,
drawn by the piece of sandwich
left on a nearby beach
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
one of the children flinches
but won’t let go) (Lines 249-255).
This wasp is an unexpected guest during the children’s lunch, something that attempts to startle the routine. The children visibly react to the intruder but, at the same time, are not frightened enough to run away or actively get rid of it. Given the ending of the poem, the wasp’s efforts are not enough to break the circle. Yet, this brief encounter with the wasp shows that outside forces are enough to at least distract or break the children’s monotony.
Map
The metaphorical map, in the poem, symbolizes both stasis and unmet potential, especially in relationships. In section iv, the speaker describes their partner as “a tracer of maps” (Line 136), someone who, in their younger days, moved
a pen or a forefinger
over the course of the rivers,
the different colours
that mark the rise of mountains (Lines 136-141).
This individual has an affiliation with and an interest in the environment around them, but the poem clarifies that they do not make the maps but follow what was prepared before them. This tracing motion is how the speaker feels their partner regards them
So now you trace me like a country’s boundary
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
and I am fixed, stuck
down on the outspread map (Lines 146-151).
While a map suggests places new and far, adventure, and opportunity, it also presents a fixed world with clear demarcations, boundaries that keep some people in and others out. Not only this, but the speaker feels “fixed, stuck / down” (Line 150-151). This interpersonal relationship seems to have or have had potential but now has reached a stasis, as the speaker feels “transfixed / by your eyes’ / cold blue thumbtacks” (Lines 157-159).
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By Margaret Atwood
