Classic and Contemporary Poetry: Explained

Anne Sexton’s "Daddy Warbucks" is a complex and darkly satirical poem that explores the dynamics of power, wealth, and the lingering trauma of a troubled childhood. Through the figure of Daddy Warbucks, a character from the comic strip "Little Orphan Annie", Sexton delves into themes of exploitation, protection, and the corrosive effects of money and authority on the human psyche. The poem is rich with irony, using the facade of a child's adoration for her "Daddy" to expose the deeper, more unsettling undercurrents of fear, manipulation, and disillusionment.

The poem begins with the line, "What's missing is the eyeballs / in each of us, but it doesn't matter," immediately setting a tone of emptiness and detachment. The absence of "eyeballs" suggests a lack of vision or awareness, a willful blindness that pervades both the speaker and the world around her. However, this missing insight is rendered inconsequential by the overwhelming presence of "the bucks, the bucks, the bucks." Money becomes the dominant force, overshadowing all else, including morality, truth, and emotional depth. The repetition of "bucks" underscores the relentless and pervasive power of wealth in this world.

The speaker describes a twisted relationship with this figure of Daddy Warbucks, where the act of touching and fondling money replaces genuine affection and connection. The repeated cries of "Daddy! Daddy!" reveal a desperate need for approval and security, but the comfort offered by Daddy Warbucks is superficial and rooted in material wealth rather than genuine care. The speaker's recollection of fighting "all alone / with molesters and crooks" highlights the isolation and danger she has faced, yet she clings to the belief that Daddy Warbucks’ money will save her. The reference to his experience as a soldier "fighting to win millions for myself" exposes the self-serving nature of his actions, even as the speaker clings to the illusion of protection.

Sexton weaves in disturbing imagery of an orphanhood defined by violence and neglect. The speaker's "curls were hung up on a wire machine and electrified," an image that evokes both physical pain and the dehumanizing effects of being reduced to an object or a spectacle. The "black Christs of childhood" symbolize the dark and sacrificial aspects of her early life, where innocence is crucified, and suffering is normalized. Despite these harrowing experiences, the speaker maintains a facade of bravery, insisting, "I was always brave, wasn't I? / I never bled?" This insistence on being unscathed is tinged with denial, as if the speaker must convince herself that the trauma has not left its mark.

The poem takes a particularly dark turn as the speaker recounts the grotesque opulence associated with Daddy Warbucks: "you drove a pure gold car / and put diamonds in your coke / for the crunchy sound, the adorable sound." These exaggerated images of wealth reveal the absurdity and excess of a life built on money, where even the most mundane experiences are infused with materialism. The moon and the ocean, "with its sleepy dead," are included in his "portfolio," suggesting that even the natural world is commodified and controlled by this figure.

The speaker's repeated denials—"No. No. / I never saw a man expose himself. / No. No. / Just me and my 'Daddy'"—reflect a deep-seated repression of traumatic memories. These lines hint at the sexual abuse and exploitation that the speaker may have experienced, but which she is unable or unwilling to fully acknowledge. The protective facade of Daddy Warbucks' wealth and power is revealed to be hollow, incapable of shielding her from the horrors she has endured.

The poem concludes with a powerful and haunting image of death and betrayal: "But I died yesterday, / 'Daddy,' I died, / swallowing the Nazi-Jap-animal." This reference to the conflation of enemies during World War II suggests that the speaker has internalized the violence and hatred of that era, symbolizing the destructive impact of a world driven by war and greed. The "Nazi-Jap-animal" becomes a metaphor for the monstrous forces that have consumed her, leaving her unable to escape the psychological and emotional damage.

The final lines evoke a surreal and macabre image of the speaker's dog "put[ting] up his four feet / and lets go / of his military secret." The dog's "big red tongue / flying up and down / like yours should have" hints at a suppressed truth or unspoken trauma that has remained buried, even as the speaker and her "Daddy" board a "velvet train"—a symbol of luxury and escape that is tainted by the reality of what has been left behind.

"Daddy Warbucks" is a searing critique of the ways in which power, wealth, and authority can corrupt and dehumanize. Through the speaker's distorted relationship with Daddy Warbucks, Sexton explores the complexities of victimhood, the façade of security provided by money, and the deep scars left by abuse and exploitation. The poem is both a personal lament and a broader commentary on the societal structures that perpetuate cycles of violence and oppression, leaving the most vulnerable to grapple with the consequences alone.

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