Group C: "Venus and the Ark"

Saharsh, I agree that the fruit dropping at the end of the poem is an allusion to the tree of life. I think this allusion can even be taken more deeply to mean that humans are flawed and will always continue to be. In the bible Adam and Eve were tempted to take the fruit, showing their imperfection, and the poem ends by saying “they heard the new fruit drop” allowing us to infer that the humans that will come to be on this planet will be as flawed as the humans from Earth. I think this is where the true dystopian nature of the poem comes from because by stating this allusion Sexton is implying that the cycle of human flaws and destruction will continue on forever.