#3

Hamartia - a tragic flaw. Every single poem in the packet expresses some sort of 'tragic flaw'
The one poem that I picked was Margaret Atwood's "Marsh Languages"
Here, the poem discusses the disappeareance of languages in this world for a better and faster life. I think this is incredibly true because of the rapid development of technology over the past 20-30 years. A majority of things now have to be faster and save 'capital'
The beauty of literature isn't necessarily appreciated unless it is on New York Time's bestseller list. Now, it is even difficult to have spare time to read and write.
Margaret Atwood cynically criticizes the world today for eliminating the complexity of old languages and try to replace it with easier and simpler ones. Ones that can be just interpreted on the surface level. This is a 'tragic flaw' to humanity itself because our civilizations today was built on the greatness of our culture. We exchanged our ideas and thoughts through language and without that mediator, there can be no progression or development of society.

Another important factor that was not mentioned is the 'dominant language'. As we know Margaret Atwood being a feminist (really?) it is obvious that her reference to a dominant language is the 'male language' as we see it today. "The language of hard nouns", "Language of either/or", "Language of metal" all refer to the aggressive nature of it. Feminine language is being ignored and often looked down upon in society. However, the 'tragic flaw' that lies here is that without any balanced relationship between these two big concepts, there can be no 'languages' and peace. We, as people, should appreciate the variety, complexity and deepness of each language and help to save and preserve it - In order to avoid the downfall of humanity or hamartia!