"[1]This life I lead, setting pictures straight, squaring rugs up with the room—it suggests an ultimate symmetry toward which I strive and strain. [2]Yet I doubt that I am any nearer my goal than I was last year, or ten years ago, even granted that this untidy world is ready for any such orderliness. [3]Going rapidly through the hall, on an errand of doubtful import to God and country, I pause suddenly, like an ant in its tracks, and with the toe of my sneaker shift the corner of the little rug two inches in a southerly direction, so that the edge runs parallel with the floor seams. [4]Healed by this simple geometry, I continue my journey. [5]The act, I can only conclude, satisfies something fundamental in me, and if, fifteen minutes later on my way back, I find that the rug is again out line, I repeat the performance with no surprise and no temper. [6]Long ago I accepted the fact of a rug’s delinquency; it has been a pitched battle and the end is not in sight. [7]At least one of my ancestors died lunging out of the bed at the enemy, and it is more than likely that I shall fall at last, truing up a mediocre mat."
Renowned essayist E.B. White writes of purging his home of clutter in “Removal,” a piece from his One Man’s Meat collection. White’s style is crisp and graceful, but this passage disproves that this sort of writing equates to simplicity. Much of his work is about day-to-day tasks, small actions, and small pleasures, which is where this notion of simplicity may have come from. Paragraph 11 in “Removal” is neat and tight, which makes it appear “simple.” However, White made an effort to make the passage symmetric and tidy, not a simple task at all.
This passage is all about symmetry, so much so that it is even reflected in the length of the sentences. Sentences 1-3 and 5-7 are long, sandwiching a much shorter sentence 4. This effect balances the passage, which is needed. Underneath White’s tidy prose, is deeper themes and darker thoughts. He opens the paragraph talking about life. He puts much effort into living (“strive,” “strain”), but then he pauses. The simile in sentence 3 serves as an interruption, a pause in a long, weary sentence (and, perhaps, a long, weary life), which is emphasized by the ant pausing in his tracks. In sentence 4, he uses a verbal phrase to kick-start the action again. He is now healed, thus he is able to move forward. But it seems all for naught—the passage ends with death, just as everyone’s lives will end. To some extent, the paragraph represents a perfect symmetry in human existence: we live, we struggle, we die. By the end of the passage, he also determines that truth equals symmetry by him “truing up” a mat that was out of line. Readers are inclined to agree with him because his use of symmetry in the paragraph “okays” a quirk (or mental illness) that he struggles with. This struggle will eventually kill him, but it will be a valiant death, as valiant a death as a soldier’s in war. If he can make sense of symmetry, perhaps he can figure out darker matters of the world. White’s habits are in an effort to control the darkness that he feels closing in on him; when he wrote this essay, America was in a war. So, while he prefers to focus on everyday life, White realizes that there is an evil force out in the world that threatens his peace in simple things. He grapples with this fear by creating symmetry in his life and in his writing. He writes of simple moments and simple actions, but he turns them into things of great importance. The title of the essay collection, One Man’s Meat, alludes to the proverb “one man’s meat, another man’s poison,” an idea that becomes apparent in this passage. For some, straightening pictures and squaring rugs, or other obsessive behaviors, could be devastating to their mental health. For White, it fortifies him in some way.
Alliteration is the most striking features of this passage, specifically the repletion of the “s” sound. White “sets pictures straight,” this act “satisfies something” in him. The “s” sound is the glue of the passage—it helps the paragraph retain cohesiveness and symmetry. White starts the passage with strong use of alliteration. His use of the “s” sound is obvious in the first sentence: “This life I lead, setting pictures straight, squaring rugs up with the room—it suggests an ultimate symmetry toward which I strive and strain.” This symmetry that he is working towards shows up in this sentence by his use of alliteration. He also finishes the paragraph with the same technique, although now he uses an “m” sound, as in “mediocre mat.” This gives a satisfactory finish to the paragraph.
White’s vitality is apparent in this piece through his use of active voice, although he inverts the word order in some sentences to emphasize ideas. In sentence 5, he makes “the act” the subject of the sentence. It is not himself that is performing the act, but rather the act that is doing something for him. It is a struggle for White, a struggle for a symmetry that will never be fully gained, in life and in writing. He acknowledges in sentence 3 that this may not be an important issue at all, and he realizes in sentence 6 that it is a fruitless war he is waging. However, in sentence 7 he becomes fully aware that he will die in his battle for symmetry.
This passage is all about symmetry, so much so that it is even reflected in the length of the sentences. Sentences 1-3 and 5-7 are long, sandwiching a much shorter sentence 4. This effect balances the passage, which is needed. Underneath White’s tidy prose, is deeper themes and darker thoughts. He opens the paragraph talking about life. He puts much effort into living (“strive,” “strain”), but then he pauses. The simile in sentence 3 serves as an interruption, a pause in a long, weary sentence (and, perhaps, a long, weary life), which is emphasized by the ant pausing in his tracks. In sentence 4, he uses a verbal phrase to kick-start the action again. He is now healed, thus he is able to move forward. But it seems all for naught—the passage ends with death, just as everyone’s lives will end. To some extent, the paragraph represents a perfect symmetry in human existence: we live, we struggle, we die. By the end of the passage, he also determines that truth equals symmetry by him “truing up” a mat that was out of line. Readers are inclined to agree with him because his use of symmetry in the paragraph “okays” a quirk (or mental illness) that he struggles with. This struggle will eventually kill him, but it will be a valiant death, as valiant a death as a soldier’s in war. If he can make sense of symmetry, perhaps he can figure out darker matters of the world. White’s habits are in an effort to control the darkness that he feels closing in on him; when he wrote this essay, America was in a war. So, while he prefers to focus on everyday life, White realizes that there is an evil force out in the world that threatens his peace in simple things. He grapples with this fear by creating symmetry in his life and in his writing. He writes of simple moments and simple actions, but he turns them into things of great importance. The title of the essay collection, One Man’s Meat, alludes to the proverb “one man’s meat, another man’s poison,” an idea that becomes apparent in this passage. For some, straightening pictures and squaring rugs, or other obsessive behaviors, could be devastating to their mental health. For White, it fortifies him in some way.
Alliteration is the most striking features of this passage, specifically the repletion of the “s” sound. White “sets pictures straight,” this act “satisfies something” in him. The “s” sound is the glue of the passage—it helps the paragraph retain cohesiveness and symmetry. White starts the passage with strong use of alliteration. His use of the “s” sound is obvious in the first sentence: “This life I lead, setting pictures straight, squaring rugs up with the room—it suggests an ultimate symmetry toward which I strive and strain.” This symmetry that he is working towards shows up in this sentence by his use of alliteration. He also finishes the paragraph with the same technique, although now he uses an “m” sound, as in “mediocre mat.” This gives a satisfactory finish to the paragraph.
White’s vitality is apparent in this piece through his use of active voice, although he inverts the word order in some sentences to emphasize ideas. In sentence 5, he makes “the act” the subject of the sentence. It is not himself that is performing the act, but rather the act that is doing something for him. It is a struggle for White, a struggle for a symmetry that will never be fully gained, in life and in writing. He acknowledges in sentence 3 that this may not be an important issue at all, and he realizes in sentence 6 that it is a fruitless war he is waging. However, in sentence 7 he becomes fully aware that he will die in his battle for symmetry.
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