How does Mehta explore the theme of trauma in Plum Cake? · By Angela Song
In Diane Mehta's poem ‘Plum Cake’ (The New Yorker, July 5, 2021), she explores the severity of trauma that the poetic speaker, Jewish victim during the holocaust, experiences. Mehta employs the extended metaphor 'plum cake' to emphasise the brutal treatment they experienced. Through depicting the consequent thirst for retribution, Mehta highlights the severity of Jewish society's trauma.
Mehta explores the trauma from the holocaust through the use of extended metaphor. In the opening line of Plum cake, Mehta directly states 'a plum cake' is 'a lamentation grief-bake', allowing the readers to make connections between the 'cake' and 'grief'. The extended metaphor of 'plum cake' depicted as vengeance on the Nazis is explicitly shown when Mehta makes the reference to 'Kaddish', 'a hymn of praises during Jewish prayer services'. The reference to Jewish prayers reveals the identity of the victims. In lines 2 and 3, Mehta suggests the 'plum cake' is made from 'blood-recipe' suggests the 'plum cake' is a vessel of blood, where only bloodshed fulfils the Nazi's idealised world. This brutal imagery of blood as a recipe highlights the extent of the atrocious slaughtering that the Jewish victims have to endure. 'All of its colours shrieking at me' further emphasises this notion and underscores the trauma the Jewish victims experienced when a massacre happened in front of them. In stanza 3, Mehta states, ' Italian plums are sweetest' to criticise fascist Italy's alliance with Nazi Germany at the time. The euphemism 'sweetest' is disturbing as the victims have to praise and glorify the destruction the Nazis brought to their own lives. Hence, through the use of the extended metaphor 'plum cake', Mehta reveals the extent of trauma the Jewish victims' experience and the inhumane treatment of praising the Nazis.
Trauma is further depicted by illustrating the victims' thirst for retribution. In the third stanza, Mehta states 'I should find them in a market when days are longer.' 'When days are longer' suggests the jewish victims still have hope; however the limited hope the victims have are reliant on the eventual revenge they can obtain. This highlights the severity of the trauma that has caused them to rely on vengeance for a living. Furthermore, in the last stanza, the image of retribution is further highlighted where 'plums pooled around the cake-slab in the photograph,[are depicted as] bloody and marvellous'. The cake-slab is a symbol for all the jewish victims. The thought of the 'plums', the Nazis will eventually 'pool' around them for revenge is an exhilarating moment for the jewish victims. This suggests that the trauma they've experienced has altered their mindset where only retribution can account for the undertaking of the Nazis and the Italians. Through the lense of revenge, the reader is able to comprehend the severity of trauma that leads to this situation. Therefore, through portraying the victims' thirst for revenge, Mehta highlights the extent of trauma that the Jewish society has suffered.
In the poem Plum Cake, Mehta underscores the extent of trauma victims experienced. She conveys this through the use of 'plum cake' extended metaphor highlighting the brutality of this experience. By focusing on the victims' thirst for retribution, Mehta emphasises the Jewish society's trauma. Mehta depicts the theme of trauma through direct experience and consequent thirst for retribution, revealing the severity of trauma and its implications.
