Ethics come with time

Thesis: Linda Pastan's poem "Ethics" intertwines of contrasting imagery, powerful diction, and punctuality placement,  unfolds a distinct perspective on in her poem on personal morals and how they are developed through life experience and looking within.

1. Imagery
   
   • "Restless on hard chairs" (6)
     The description of the narrator's youth is seen as tied down and restrained, and the discomfort is evident for the reader. These feelings greatly contrast the soothing and reflective mood of the end of the poem, and therefore highlight how the narrator has changed in maturity and perspective.
     
2. Diction
   
   • "This fall in a real museum I stand / before a real Rembrandt..." (17-18)
     At last, the narrator is faced with the reality. In the first section of the poem she along with the children in her Ethics class don't consider the teacher's question as something to be taken seriously, because they have not found the meaning of life and they have yet to live. The author demonstrates this with the double usage of "real", emphasizing how later in life, the narrator has realized reality and is now able to truly understand and answer ethical questions. 
   • "caring little for pictures or old age" (7)
     The author uses such simple words to show the simple way the children think. Their inability to truly consider what they would rescue in a fire proves exactly the conclusive point that those lacking in maturity are not able to be truly analyze anything that does not directly concern themselves.
     
3. Punctuation
   
   • "...old woman, / or nearly so, myself..." (17-19)
     The narrator's use of enjambment is prevalent throughout the poem. In this case, she uses it to show uncertainty. She mentions how she is now the old woman, but due to her pauses and reconsideration, she admits to the reader that she has not quite come to terms with her age or the fact that so many years have passed since her school years. 
   • "I know now that woman / and painting and season are almost one / and all beyond saving by children" (23-25).
     In the final thought of the poem the narrator for the first time does not use any punctuation. The idea is complete and rushed out without hesitation. The author could have wanted to highlight the narrator's confidence in finally concluding the answer to the question asked in the beginning of the poem. A mixture of experience and maturity are found in her confidence, for no longer does she want to answer the question "half-heartedly" (9) and she knows that children lack the seriousness to actually be able to understand the value of life and the how it can be compared to a painting.