To a Sad Daughter | Themes

To a Sad Daughter Themes

"To a Sad Daughter" attempts to define the realm of emotions that persists on a daily basis within a man raising a daughter. The poet describes his role as both father and friend, protector and motivator, and as the one who would like to hold on to his little girl forever but who must open the door "into the wild world" and essentially push her through it.

Reality and Ambiguity

Michael Ondaatje is widely accepted as a writer of reality, but how he defines reality is a recurring theme within his work. Most often, the world he describes is chaotic, and the typical human response to it is panic. But at the center of the chaos, and, therefore, the center of the panic, lies a good reason for both: ambiguity. Very little is clear-cut in this poet's world. Even his daughter turned out to be not what he was "expecting," but rather...
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