In the second stanza the narrator continues to describe and list the flaws she believes this suburban residence has. For example “But thought the driveways neatly sidestep hysteria by being even” she is saying that although everything seems perfect, all the problems are being putted aside “sidestep hysteria”. Then she describes the roofs as being all the same and not having any individuality “the roofs all display the same slant and avoidance of hot sky”. After that Atwood introduces the images of “the smell of split oil a faint sickness lingering in the garages”. Finally with the quotation “a splash of paint on a brick surprising as a bruise” she is reinforcing the main idea of everything being flawless in the suburbs and how a splash of paint which is something very usual is as surprising as a bruise.
Stanza three is a short stanza in which the narrator talks what may happen in the future to all this perfect things in suburbia. For example with these lines “future cracks in the plaster” “will slide obliquely into clay seas, gradual glaciers that right now nobody notices” the author is saying that all these things of being flawless will lead to destruction.
In stanza four Atwood introduces the new idea of the “city planners”. In the lines 29-32 the narrator is describing the city planners, who they are and where they work. They say that they are “political conspirators” which makes them powerful. Then in line 33 it is said “each in his own private blizzard” which could be referring to each of the city planners different ideas that will destroy the city. Then it says “they sketch transitory lines rigid as wooden borders” which means they are imposing tough rules and creating paths for the people to follow.
Stanza five is a brief two line stanza which ends the poem with the lines “tracing the panic of suburb order in a bland madness of snow” this means that all the suburbs are perfect and follow a straight perfect line but really there is a snow storm “madness” hidden by all this flawless, picture perfect world.
This poem starts with a calm tone, this can be seen in this quotation “cruising these residential Sunday streets in dry August sunlight” but then the tone shifts to a more sarcastic and humorous tone that can be seen for example in “nothing more abrupt than the rational whine of a power mower cutting a straight swath in the discouraged grass” and “a splash of paint on brick surprising as a bruise” this is sarcastic because things that are normal or usual are offending to her. The subtext and what the author is trying to imply with this poem is that the suburban lifestyle were everything is perfect will soon be destroyed as it is wrong to live in a place without individuality or creativity.
This poem is written in a free verse style; without formality or slight structure. She uses images for example in describing the sanities: “the houses in pedantic rows, the planted sanitary trees, assert levelness of surface like a rebuke to the dent in our car door.” “the smell of split oil” “the future cracks in the plaster” referring to the future problems that the “city planners” and the world they are creating will bring. The tone and mood of this poem is firstly calm but then in turns into an apocalyptic and disastrous tone “the future cracks in the plaster when the houses, capsized, will slide obliquely into the clay seas, gradual as glaciers that right now nobody notices.” The poem creates an atmosphere of dread and anxiety as it talks about the destruction of the world.
This poem can be linked with the poem by Boey Kin Cheng “The Planners”. Both of these poems talk about similar themes which are the suburban and perfect cities and nature for example in “The city planners” Atwood describes the “planted sanitary trees” “the discouraged grass” and in “The planners” Cheng talk about “the seas draw back” and “the skies surrender”. Also both poems talk about people that “plan” or control the cities.
So in conclusion this poem is transmitting a feeling of anxiety, concern and unease as it talks about the destruction and madness there really is in the world although some people “the city planners” try to cover it and live hiding the truth of this world of perfection and flawlessness. I think the poem is successful as it is transmitting its subtexts which are the dullness and flatness of this world which soon will be destroyed in a pretty clear way and I think that is what Margaret Atwood was trying to transmit through this poem.