Part one of term paper
The central theme of the poem “Tumbleweed” by David Wagoner is a tumbleweed that bounces from one place to the next. It is buffeted by the wind, and it ends up stuck on a fence from which it is rescued by the poet to continue its way. In the first stanza, the poet tells us that the tumbleweed, which is a metaphor for himself has been t ...

Part two of term paper
... shows how the tumbleweed and the poet are victims of the environment around them. The circumstances around them have relegated them to being tossed about from one place to another. “ To catch at the barbed wire and hang there, shaking, like a riddled prisoner.” The poet tells us using strong images of pain and injury that the tumbleweed was thrown against a fence, a kind of prison from which it is difficult to escape. So the tumbleweed and the poet are both thrust against the barbed wire of lif ...