EAT ME (Agbabi)
● Relationships
1) Negative self-image as the result of an abusive relationship
- ‘His desert island after shipwreck./ Or a beached whale on a king-sized bed/ craving
a wave. I was a tidal wave of flesh.’- In ‘Eat me’, Agbabi suggests how a negative self
image can result from abusive relationships. Agbabi, with the use of sea imagery,
connotes size through the words ‘whale’ and ‘tidal wave’. This hyperbolic imagery,
including the reference to a ‘king-sized bed’, helps to create the impression that the
persona dehumanises herself through exaggerating her size and comparing herself
to an animal through zoomorphism. This is due to her partner’s abuse, which is
suggested through the possessive pronoun ‘his’ emphasising the persona as a
possession.
- ‘Too fat to leave, too fat to buy a pint of full-fat milk,/ too fat to use fat as an emotional
shield,/ too fat to be called chubby, cuddly, big-built.’- Agbabi presents abusive
relationships as a cause of negative self image. The use of the word ‘leave’ is
polysemic- it both suggests that the persona is literally too large to move, but it also a
metaphor for the confinement that victims of abusive relationships feel. As a result,
the anaphora of ‘too fat’ helps to create the impression that the persona believes her
size renders her useless and weak. For instance, the word choice of ‘full-fat milk’
connotes size through the fricative alliteration of ‘full-fat’, which is ironically
juxtaposed with the fact that the persona, being ‘fat’ herself, cannot buy it. This
negative self-image is developed further through the asyndetic tricolon, reflecting the
idea that she has no redeeming qualities, for instance the word ‘cuddly’ is a term of
endearment, but the persona sees herself as undeserving of this title.
2) The control of one individual over another
- ‘Eat me. And I ate, did/ what I was told. Didn’t even taste it.’- In ‘Eat Me’, Agbabi
explores the relationship dynamic where one individual has control over the other.
The caesuras following ‘eat me’ and ‘told’ emphasise the imperative, and establish
the man in the relationship as the figure of authority. Accordingly, the persona
remains compliant and passive, shown through the absence of personal pronouns on
the phrases ‘did what I was told’ and ‘didn’t even taste it’. This absence of personal
pronouns suggests that she has no agency in her actions, and creates the
impression that she gains little satisfaction from the relationship dynamic, which is
emphasised through the lack of gustatory imagery in ‘didn’t even taste it’, removing
the pleasure of tasting food from the action of eating it. This is because it centres
around the pleasure the man gets from controlling the persona, not the persona’s
own personal pleasure.
- ‘Then he asked me to get up and walk/ round the bed so he could watch my broad/
belly wobble, hips judder like a juggernaut.’- Agbabi, shows the control of one
individual over another through suggesting that the object of the man’s desire is the
persona’s body, whose size is fetisised. Agbabi creates this impression through the
semantic field of anatomy- ‘belly’ and ‘hips’- which he desires to ‘watch’. This
persona’s size is emphasised through the plosive alliteration of ‘broad belly’ and the
reference to a juggernaut (an immovable force). Therefore, through his order to ‘get
● Relationships
1) Negative self-image as the result of an abusive relationship
- ‘His desert island after shipwreck./ Or a beached whale on a king-sized bed/ craving
a wave. I was a tidal wave of flesh.’- In ‘Eat me’, Agbabi suggests how a negative self
image can result from abusive relationships. Agbabi, with the use of sea imagery,
connotes size through the words ‘whale’ and ‘tidal wave’. This hyperbolic imagery,
including the reference to a ‘king-sized bed’, helps to create the impression that the
persona dehumanises herself through exaggerating her size and comparing herself
to an animal through zoomorphism. This is due to her partner’s abuse, which is
suggested through the possessive pronoun ‘his’ emphasising the persona as a
possession.
- ‘Too fat to leave, too fat to buy a pint of full-fat milk,/ too fat to use fat as an emotional
shield,/ too fat to be called chubby, cuddly, big-built.’- Agbabi presents abusive
relationships as a cause of negative self image. The use of the word ‘leave’ is
polysemic- it both suggests that the persona is literally too large to move, but it also a
metaphor for the confinement that victims of abusive relationships feel. As a result,
the anaphora of ‘too fat’ helps to create the impression that the persona believes her
size renders her useless and weak. For instance, the word choice of ‘full-fat milk’
connotes size through the fricative alliteration of ‘full-fat’, which is ironically
juxtaposed with the fact that the persona, being ‘fat’ herself, cannot buy it. This
negative self-image is developed further through the asyndetic tricolon, reflecting the
idea that she has no redeeming qualities, for instance the word ‘cuddly’ is a term of
endearment, but the persona sees herself as undeserving of this title.
2) The control of one individual over another
- ‘Eat me. And I ate, did/ what I was told. Didn’t even taste it.’- In ‘Eat Me’, Agbabi
explores the relationship dynamic where one individual has control over the other.
The caesuras following ‘eat me’ and ‘told’ emphasise the imperative, and establish
the man in the relationship as the figure of authority. Accordingly, the persona
remains compliant and passive, shown through the absence of personal pronouns on
the phrases ‘did what I was told’ and ‘didn’t even taste it’. This absence of personal
pronouns suggests that she has no agency in her actions, and creates the
impression that she gains little satisfaction from the relationship dynamic, which is
emphasised through the lack of gustatory imagery in ‘didn’t even taste it’, removing
the pleasure of tasting food from the action of eating it. This is because it centres
around the pleasure the man gets from controlling the persona, not the persona’s
own personal pleasure.
- ‘Then he asked me to get up and walk/ round the bed so he could watch my broad/
belly wobble, hips judder like a juggernaut.’- Agbabi, shows the control of one
individual over another through suggesting that the object of the man’s desire is the
persona’s body, whose size is fetisised. Agbabi creates this impression through the
semantic field of anatomy- ‘belly’ and ‘hips’- which he desires to ‘watch’. This
persona’s size is emphasised through the plosive alliteration of ‘broad belly’ and the
reference to a juggernaut (an immovable force). Therefore, through his order to ‘get
