"February"
Margaret Atwood
As we enter the month of February, I can relate to the speaker's disgust for the month and winter as a whole. Although February is the month of Valentines, the poem discusses the folly of love and the love of fattening food.
The poem opens in the speaker's bed on a February morning with a cat looking to snuggle. However, the speaker will not have any of the smelly beast's self-centered affection. Instead, the speaker turns the cat into a symbol for humanity's problems and potential solutions. Love and sex drive cats to spray houses and fight. Taking away those parts responsible for those feelings and habits solves the problem. Therefore, the same should work with humans. Obviously, the speaker takes a more practical approach to love that includes its complete eradication.
In fact, the only words relating to love are used to refer to fattening foods: "I think dire thoughts, and lust for French fries/ with a splash of vinegar," (Atwood). Usually people think of food and love as being on opposite ends of the spectrum. I can eat these french fries, or I can get a date. The speaker gets around this conundrum by forgetting the date and dating the french fries, because they don't care if there's a gap between your thighs.
The speaker's attitude towards love is obviously one of disgust and mistrust. She expels the cat who wants to cuddle, despises Valentine's month, and supports Nazi-like population control measures. Nevertheless, she recognizes her pessimism and longs for spring when she can embrace life and love.
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