Arshi , Rich recognises the centrality of poetry within this as ‘ a fierce , destabilizing force .’ This ‘ force ’ articulates a deeper power for both authors as they explore how destruction is not only inevitable , but actually necessary in order to reconstruct the self ; rewriting a woman ’ s narrative as herself outside of the restrictive framework of existing patriarchal narratives .
Rich navigates an external landscape of destruction throughout Diving into the Wreck , the ‘ wreck ’ itself symbolising an exploited woman , numbly aware of the blinding light of patriarchal power , but unable to escape the penetrating glare of its governances . Distanced from the reader in a state of static passivity , ‘ the drowned face [ is ] always staring / toward the sun / the evidence of damage / worn by salt and sway into this threadbare beauty .’ This melancholic tone reverberates throughout the poem as she concedes , ‘ we are the half-destroyed instruments ’ ( p82 ). Objectified and disregarded as useless remains , Rich emphasises women ’ s literary and social eradication as equally destructive , corrosive and wearing , like the ‘ salt [ y ] sway ’ of the sea itself . The image of the ‘ drowned face ’ haunts the poem as Rich describes ‘ I am she : I am
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he / whose drowned face sleeps with open eyes / whose breasts still bear the stress ’ ( pp77-79 ). She emphasises the scars left behind in the aftermath of destruction , blurring the line between the externalised landscape of a shipwreck and images of an emancipated female body as she focuses in on the ‘ ribs of the disaster ’ ( p68 ). Yet , in becoming both ‘ she ’ and ‘ he ’, Rich straddles the boundaries of the real and the mythic , becoming the ‘ mermaid whose dark hair / streams black [ and ] the merman in his armoured body ’ ( pp71-72 ). Pamela Annas regards Diving into the Wreck as a reconstruction where the poet ‘ renames the self , connects parts of the self and puts the self back together .’ Reconnecting the self is an essential aspect of Rich ’ s revisionism , redefining the self and galvanising the power in reclaiming a mythical identity for women ’ s own use . The mermaid , defined by her ‘ stream [ ing ]’ jet of black hair marks a sharp contrast to the ‘ armoured body ’ of the merman , yet Rich inhabits both to powerful effect as she considers the role of myths in the destruction of the female voice and narrative . Bojana Vujin discusses this , highlighting the destructive nature of silence in erasing the female narrative and body , suggesting that ‘ This simple act of giving voice to the