"February" Margaret Atwood

So when I first read this poem, I was totally lost. Once we discussed it in class, I got a much better understanding. She starts of the poem by saying, "Winter. Time to eat fat and watch hockey." First of all, how much more masculine can you get? Then she starts going on about her cat. She talks about how it tries to get on her head to see if she's alive. She says, "If I'm not, he wants to be scratched; if I am he'll think of something." This line refers to how cats seek attention, but if one does not give it to them, then they will find something else, such as rubbing against the couch. Then she starts linking cat behavior to human behavior. She says, "It's all about sex and territory," and says that we should "snip a few testicles," like people do with cats, if we are wise. This gives the reader a negative outlook on men from the speaker's standpoint. At first, I thought it might be a feminist thing, but after reanalyzing everything, I realized that she is just sad that she doesn't have a lover. The title of the poem is "February;" what is the first thing that pops into your mind when you think February? VALENTINE'S DAY! She is upset because she has no one to celebrate with. Most people can relate to this at one time or another. At the end of the poem she begins directly talking to the cat, which makes this an apostrophe. She says "Cat, enough of your greedy whining and your small pink bumhole... get going with a little otimism around here. Get rid of death. Celebrate increase. Make it be spring." This is actually a call to herself to get up and do something! Nothing is going to change if she just sits around and waits. She needs to overcome this internal conflict and help herself.