16 pages • 32 minutes read
Marge PiercyThe Secretary Chant
Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1973A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Xerox Machine
Piercy uses the Xerox machine in her poem as part of a pregnancy metaphor: “Swollen, heavy, rectangular / I am about to be delivered / of a baby / xerox machine” (Lines 20-23). The metaphorical symbolism of the Xerox machine within this context comes to represent a full circle connecting all other metaphors of the poem. The speaker is weighed down with responsibility as she would be with child. Further, the reference to a Xerox machine—whose purpose is to make copies—implies the speaker will birth a version of herself who may well also be doomed to the mundanity in which she currently exists.
Another reading of this image can be that the speaker herself is “about to be delivered” (Line 21). The specific inclusion of the word “of” in Line 22 offers such an alternative interpretation of the line. In this case, the speaker is the Xerox machine—just another standard piece of office equipment.
“The Secretary Chant,” published in 1973, predates French philosopher Jean Baudrillard’s Simulacra and Simulation (1981). Piercy’s Xerox machine metaphor aligns with Baudrillard’s observations about the reproduction of images and how they evolve over time to create a situation where signs bear no relation to reality, and are simply replications of other signs so far removed from their originating context as to be unrecognizable. Piercy’s Xerox machine further removes the speaker of the poem from any sort of human form; this objectification is so reductive that she has all but vanished and turned into little more than a copy on a sheet of paper to be filed away.
“My Head…”
While the speaker of Piercy’s poem mentions numerous body parts, she makes three specific references to her “head” (Lines 8, 10, 12). Though the word “head” is used, it more broadly implies the mind, as the corresponding lines suggest the workings of thought: “[I]s a badly organized file,” “where crossed lines crackle,” and “of worn ideas” all imply a level of disorganization and lack of mental clarity. Perhaps the noise of the office is distracting and makes it difficult to focus on individual tasks. Since the other bodily metaphors of the poem focus on the physical body, these lines referencing the head/mind stand out as holding a particular importance within the poem.
With so much of the speaker’s existence reduced to simple objects, the idea that her head or mind has the potential to be expansive and freeing is undercut by metaphors that liken it to a disorganized, chaotic, and tired space. This could be doubly read as the speaker feeling the burden of her job to the degree that it affects her mental state, or even that the speaker feeling that this is the way she is further objectified and perceived by her (male) colleagues.
Credit and Debit
People have jobs to make money to live in capitalist America. Much of the language of Piercy’s poem focuses on the speaker’s body and physical office environment rather than the financial realities of the workplace. Lines 14-16 read, “Press my fingers / and in my eyes appear / credit and debit,” and more closely align objectification of the speaker’s body and the more capital-driven aspects of the office. The lines are presented as a cause and effect, with the speaker’s fingers registering credit and debit in her eyes, much like a machine intended for calculations.
“[C]redit and debit” (Line 16) are interesting to note, as they relate in some ways to the tasks a woman might encounter in a traditional role as homemaker keeping track of basic household finances. Here they are used to show that the speaker is little more than a machine to register sums. This is also a nod to the importance of the overarching setting of the poem: an office. As earlier noted, in the 1960s and 70s, women more regularly began to take office jobs. At the outset, this seemed like a progressive step forward out of the home, where women could make their own money and be more independent. Piercy’s note of credit and debit reminds the reader that although her description of the speaker in the poem is largely physical, there are practical reasons to discuss women in the office workplace, as well. When women were met with the sort of blatant objectification Piercy discusses in this poem, it was both frustrating and maddening. While much has changed since Percy’s poem was published, women in 2021 continue to face workplace harassment and objectification; this poem is still quite relevant today.
Related Titles
By Marge Piercy
