The city planners Interesting Essay Topic Ideas

The City Planners is a poem written by Canadian poet Margaret Atwood It paints a stark picture of a city that is highly organized and efficient, but lacking in life and human spirit. The poem paints a dystopic image of a cityscape devoid of natural beauty, where the buildings are blocky and robotic in design, and the people are as faceless and emotionless as the inanimate structures. Atwood's use of language in the poem serves to emphasize her view of city planning as an inherently oppressive concept. Furthermore, it indicates the alienation and malaise felt by its citizens, who follow the rules of an imposed order that controls their lives. Example 1: The Suburban Metropolis The suburban metropolis is the image that Atwood paints of the city planners' vision. It is a sprawling oversaturated landscape of indistinguishable buildings, highways, and shops that make up the city. The poem describes the city's sameness, monotony, and lack of meaningful human connection, as the planners have created a homogenous space that has little to no sense of place. It is a city of conformity and uniformity, where the citizens are disconnected from each other and their environment. Example 2: The Overbearing Architecture Atwood's description of the cityscape reflects her view of architectural planning as oppressive. The poem paints buildings and stone structures as obtrusive and domineering, dwarfing the people who inhabit them. In this vision, the buildings are meant to serve a purpose, not to inspire beauty or creativity. Furthermore, the poem implies that the planners' vision of the city has been forced upon its inhabitants, bankrupting them of their freedom and individual ideas of beauty. Example 3: The Power of the Planners The poem speaks of the planners' power over their domain, as they are described as having a 'grand design.' They have the power to plan and shape the city to their liking, with no regard for the citizens' desires or individual needs. This is reflected in the poem's line 'We had to suffer them', which implies a sense of resentment towards the planners and their decisions. Example 4: The Disappearance of Nature Atwood's poem speaks to the destruction of nature in the hands of the planners. Nature is portrayed as an enemy of the city, something to be tamed or eradicated. The poem reflects this, as it speaks of 'riotous' fields and 'haunting' trees that have been replaced with 'cement and stones'. This reflects the planners' disregard for natural beauty, as they attempt to create a city devoid of anything that does not fit into their 'grand design'. Example 5: The Emptiness of the City Finally, the poem speaks to the emptiness of the city, where the 'silent' and 'grim' streets reflect a city of hollowed-out humans, who are disconnected from the environment and each other. The planners have created a city where there is no meaningful connectivity, and thus, no hope of creating a vibrant, interesting community. This emptiness is emphasized in the poem's closing lines 'No one stopped us: we had no fences to break down'. This implies that, in the planners' system, humans are mere observers, as they have no freedom or autonomy to affect the city in any meaningful way. In conclusion, The City Planners paints a bleak picture of city planning and its effects on the people who inhabit it. Atwood's use of language and imagery serves to emphasize her view of city planning as oppressive and dehumanizing. The poem's message of alienation, emptiness, and the destruction of nature reflects Atwood's critique of the planners' power and their disregard for individual freedom and expression.