Embracing True Self, Alienation, and Freedom: An Existential Analysis of Adrienne Rich's "Diving into the Wreck"

Adrienne Rich's poem "Diving into the Wreck" displays a symbolic journey towards self-discovery, identity, and history. The poem is usually interpreted through the feminist or poststructuralist approaches, nevertheless, this study claims that the poem's existential aspects have not been taken into consideration. By the application of Sartrean concepts of freedom, alienation, and the search for meaning to the text, the critical gap will be filled by this research. A qualitative methodology based on the textual analysis of language, form, and imagery is used, and the analysis sees the dive as an intense journey of self-discovery. The narrator’s striving to investigate the wreck corresponds with Sartre’s dictum that “existence precedes essence” and manifests the need to create one's own meaning in a neutral universe. This research further supports the scholarly readings of Rich's works by bringing to the fore its existential aspect.