"Homes"

“Homes”

         “Homes” by Charlotte Anna Perkins Gilman is structured as a Sestina. These particular poems have a very distinctive organization pattern and very specific with its classifications. “Homes” holds repetition and is bountiful in metaphors, but the most distinctive technique is Gilman’s tone.

         The tone throughout the poem is calmly accusing. It sheds light on the fact that homes have been turned into a persons “god.” Homes have become the safe haven, private, intimate and expressive. The outside of the house gives the first impression of what the owners may be like. For example, a large house is obviously owned by a wealthy family and so on. One can easily gather a family’s “social rankings” just from the outside of a house. But when did houses become our defining for social ranking? It actually goes to the root of possessions. A home only holds all of a person’s possessions. These possessions can be shown off or hidden within the privacy of the home, but the home still contains all of these earthly things. The “toys” that men work so hard for so that they can flaunt how much money they make, or even the furnishing of a well kept house.

         Each stanza penetrates deeper into what a home or dwelling holds for a human. It goes even deeper than possessions and what it contains; humans have added significance. A home gives significance because of its privacy. Everyone can be whoever they want to be within the privacy of their homes. This is where the connection back to God lies, that the homes control significance, no longer God.