To be a creature is to have a receptive heart, one should act accordingly. The act of eating ones heart is a symbol for an unpleasant living. “The Heart” written by Stephen Crane tells of a creature, bestial, and naked that feeds on his own heart. The narrator asks the creature “Is it good, friend?” in which he reply’s, “It is bitter—bitter, but I like it because it is bitter, and because it is my heart.” The interest of the poem lies with the mystery of this creature’s existence. This creature’s remorseless life can easily be imagined as frightening. The fact of having managed to sustain living is the most basic level of survival. The bitter taste of his heart indicates that his heart is receptive to feelings of anger and resentment. Perhaps his primal mind is at odds with his sensitive heart. Can this creature be human? The act of eating ones heart is unheard of; but similar rituals are known, such as Indian warriors eating the hearts of their defeated enemies. These dubious rituals are forms of expression aimed to communicate to receptive beings. The poem stands as a powerful allegory for the significance of balance.
The motto ignorance is bliss comes to mind when pondering the life of an impulsive creature that lives without remorse or pity. Surely no one could escape the consequences of their actions. It’s been said that one cannot know true success without
ever experiencing failure. One can believe that the creature knows this to be true. Imagine the bitter existence of living in the vast desert, a slave to lonesome comforts. The most basic feeling of fear most have ultimately gripped at the creature. In reaction to his distressing disposition the creature makes what can be described as an expression of resentment; resentment towards his vulnerable side. He cuts out the source of his distress allowing him to move past it. Then he eats his heart in hopes that it will be the final step to concur his weakness. What sensation he must of felt as his heart was digested. Funneling down his heart through his throat causing his muscles to swell and retract. Realizing what he has done he seems to have a moment of clarity; he understands the consequence of his action. Devouring the sensitivities of his human feelings the creature somehow manages to be receptive to the loss. The remnants of his devoured heart must of lead him to believe that he had failed to improve his disposition. The last moments as human before he turns completely beast realizes his heart was what gave him his identity.
All creatures must have the aptitude to survive the forces that threaten ones health. The human creature, most complex , endures the greatest difficulty. No ailment can match a resentful heart that broods misery and darkness. A bitter taste is usually perceived to be unpleasant, yet the creature claims to like it. Yes, a human is a creature, one with the capacity for both good and evil. To love, hate, to be compassionate, to fear, to be receptive to emotions is what makes us human. The creature in “The Heart” is bestial, lacking normal human feelings of pity or remorse. His motivation for eating his heart is unclear, maybe a means of comfort, an impulse of a
carnivore engaging his teeth. Whatever the purpose, the action serves as an expression to his life in the desert. To express the feeling he had was means for him to like the bitter taste as his last means to convey himself to his surroundings. The creature had acted in accordance to his lamenting heart and would learn that a balance between suffering and desire would serve him better than overindulging in one side of his nature.
“The Heart” induces the reader into a dreamy imagery of a creature’s dwellings in the desert. The vision renders a primal creature unnatural ability to devour his sensitivity in the form of flesh. At the peek of the creatures suffering and desire he utters simple words in reflection to his state of being. In digesting Stephen Cranes poem one is forced to know introversion in ones own life to sympathize with the creature. In which case you are left only to say, “…Because it is my heart.”
