One of the most significant characteristics of surrealistic art is the use of vibrant yet conflicting or inappropriate colours to stimulate the dream like quality of unconscious. Surreal works uses a variety of colours to enhance the fantasy it creates. Neruda creates this technique in words, assigning vivid colours to objects that are not usually appropriate with them. He combines the colour and object to create another extraordinary colour for him to portray the objects’ true essence. For instance, ¡§yellowing pigeon¡¨, ¡§sulphur-colored birds¡¨, ¡§pale dead women¡¨, ¡§wine-dark River¡¨. The intense colours tend to draw attention to the everyday objects that he has associated them with forcing the reader to pay more attention and reassess the object itself. At the same time it helps to create a surreal and nightmarish tone in the poem.This technique is surreal because it is not a real colour; it is combined by two separate objects and forms into something fantasy like.
Juxtaposition is similar technique with the characteristic of merging things together in surrealism. It is seen in 2 of the poems I am talking. Examples are, ¡§shout without a mouth¡¨, ¡§with my convict face¡K and it howls on its way like a wounded wheel¡¨. Neruda places silence and sound together suggesting the dislocation of the things, given that something silent should not makes any noise, nevertheless it does in the poems.
In order to create the surreal image of his hatred towards the isolation he merges an adjective with a noun but in a weird pair. For example ¡§death is green¡¨, ¡§exasperated winter¡¨, ¡§painful utensils¡¨. The synesthesia not only enhances the lonely images but also brings out dislocation by mismatching the adjectives with noun creating surreal images throughout the poem.
Surreal images of nature are represented in the poems to highlight the isolation as surrealism does not parallel with reality. The surreal imageries stand out from the reality imageries. Some of the surreal images of nature are ¡§green knife¡¨, ¡§and it clothes echo, hushed like a tree¡¨ and ¡§beds sailing into a harbor¡¨. The surreal imagery created by nature separates reality world, fantasy world and the human world versus the nature world. Especially the quote ¡§beds sailing into a harbor¡¨, it give the readers a feeling that the bed is sailing from reality and to surrealism emphasizes the separation and loneliness.
Surrealism mixes bits and pieces like how Neruda does. He mentioned a lot of body parts in the poems ¡§bones¡¨, ¡§fingerless¡¨, ¡§fingers down our throats¡¨etc. However the body parts that he mentioned in the poems are not together, they are scattered throughout the poem. This repetition and structure creates a lonely feeling for readers because the objects are dislocated. This also makes a connection with the reader because they could feel empathic with the person whose body parts are separated and is brutalized.
Since surrealism is unlocking self¡¦s subconscious mind and conveys inner perspectives. One significant similarity in the collection of the poems is that all poems uses ¡§I¡¨ and there is no ¡§you¡¨, ¡§we¡¨ or ¡§us¡¨ which further establish he is isolated and everything he wrote are his opinions and feelings towards what he experienced and saw. In the poems he keeps on repeating his perspective on things several times to permit readers to fully digest the solitary he is trying to reinforce.
In surreal artwork we often see objects appear repeatedly. In the 3 poems there are several things that are repeated as well. For example, ¡§bell¡¨, ¡§tomb¡¨, ¡§Earth¡¨, ¡§violets¡¨, and illegal actions. Repetition is used perhaps it¡¦s Neruda trying to create sense out of the nonsense and absurd world. It is also trying to draw attention to the absurdity of human life. CONNECTION TO ISOLATION/DISLOCATION
Death is also repeated in these poems. The repetition not only is an evident to point out that this is a surreal poem but also to create a macabre and nightmarish atmosphere and image. Neruda is trying to strengthen the idea of isolation since when people die they leave Earth to another world which often gives people a sense of aloneness.
Another repetition is used in Walking Around. It has repeated four times ¡§into¡¨ in a stanza. It gives the readers a feeling that they are going deeper and deeper. Neruda does this as he is too trying to go deeper and deeper to unlock the unconscious mind. It goes further and further from the reality creating the isolation feeling again.
Overall Neruda has crafted surreal poems from the Residence on Earth collection through his use of imagery and diction, reflecting a sense of isolation and dislocation. He is trying to reflect a sense of isolation and dislocation through surreal poems because he is probably influenced by the society when he is writing the poems. Everyone is depressed from the World War, trying to find something that makes sense in the subconscious mind.
