Afterglow by Eileen Myles is a novel in the form of dog memoirs written after the death by the author’s pit bull Rosie. The relationships between the pet owner and Rosie compose the key theme of this literary piece. The use of poetry in the novel is intertwined in the identification and discussion of these ties, while the memoirs document the life of Myles, including intimacy, politics, family history, and many other important issues. In order to better understand the integration of poetry, one should state that the most emotional and appealing statements are given through this literature form. This essay aims to explore the way Myles challenges the use of poems in her novel as well as the role of such a decision. While it is largely considered that novel and poetry are two distinct methods of writing, Afterglow proves that the latter can be effectively integrated into the former in a creative manner.
The novel explores the relationships between two loving beings, while greater emphasis is placed on Myles as a human with self-knowledge and the ability of self-evaluation. The memoirs allow for considering her life from the different angle, flowing to the curious mind of the author and connecting it to the outside world (LeMenager, 2017). While reading the novel, one feels as if the poet directs him or her through the personal universe and shares the intimate issues. This is another contribution of the poetic parts of Afterglow, which makes the readers to be excited by the narration. It is possible to compare Rosie with a ghostwriter, who speaks in terms of anthropomorphism and seems to be alive. Writing the novel about Rosie is a wat chosen by the author to experimentally save her around other people.
In order to better understand the meaning of poetry that is built in the novel, it is important to pay attention to the writer. Myles is an American poet, writer and processor, who is characterised as a queer feminist advocate. She proposes the fact of being identified as “they” for transgendered people while referring to something possessed. In the context of individualism that dominates modern societies, the appeal to collective referencing can be regarded as a step towards utopia and recognising multiple populations (LeMenager, 2017). One may assume that by insisting on using “they”, Myles tries to avoid excessive determination, acting as an invisible person who speaks not only for herself but also for others.
The evasiveness with which Myles writes the novel and poetry also indicates the nature of relationships between Rosie and the author. In particular, it becomes evident that she identifies through and with the dog, treating it as identical to her (Haraway, 2003). In doing so, she presents the stories of everyday life through the lenses of Rosie in a phantasmagoric manner with split emotions and thoughts. In this connection, it is quite difficult to classify this literary piece, yet autofiction seems to be the most relevant choice. The autobiographical features supplemented by fictionalized excerpts, which give a sense of creativity in the world of traditional literature. In other words, the author removes the distinction between the two mentioned methods of narration and succeeds in skillfully adopting both of them in Afterglow.
In order to write her novel, the author uses heartfelt and compassionate language, which demonstrates the spiritual connectedness with Rosie along with emptiness after her death. Likewise any memoir, Afterglow is full of life and love that are expressed in a creative way as if the author tests the limits of consciousness and strives to reflect the sensibility of her relationships with the dog. It seems that Myles associates herself with Rosie since otherwise it would not be possible to refer to her consciousness (Doyle, 2018). The poetry helps the author in opening the wordless soul of her pet and continuing to do so even after her death. A full specter of emotions is provided through charming notions and fantastic images that make readers laugh and ponder over simultaneously.
The core link between poetry and novel lies in their mutual complementation and enrichment. According to the literary critics, the general principle of poetic speech is the increased activation of all levels of the text, which is bought at the cost of artificial restrictions, making the text especially informatively capacious. In particular, if there is no rhyme, then rhythm can be used, but if they are absent, the division into lines is a solution, which can be supplemented by a lack of punctuation. The paramount goal of this is to intensify the activity of interpreting the text since the task of poetry is to force the reader to re-comprehend reality, revealing existential meanings through the word. That is why it is beneficial to utilize it with prose with its original descriptiveness and informativeness. The meaning of both poetry and novel brings a new, whimsical way to uncover human consciousness.
To conclude, one should emphasize that Afterglow is a novel based on the dog memoirs, where Rosie, the beloved pet of Myles, presents her vision of the author’s life. The key idea of this paper lies in discussing the way the author implemented poetry into the novel and the role of such a literary decision. The review of Myles’ personal identification and professional stance allowed for assuming that poetry helps her to present the most intimate issues while connecting with other people through proposing the use of the word “they” for self-identification. Most importantly, poetry contributes to reflecting the author’s identification through and with her dog. Thus, this novel reinvents the approach used by the traditional literature: instead of distinguishing poetry from the novel, it is possible to use them in combination to have more opportunities for reaching the readers and revealing the key messages.