Ricardo Gonzalez
English 1102
Dr. Thompson
Essay …
Miniver Cheevy’s Personality
Everyone has a type of lifestyle that he or she wishes to have to be happy. In the poem “Miniver Cheevy,” Miniver is thinking of the medieval times, and he wishes that he lived during that period. He becomes depressed that he was not able to love in the mid-evil times. He keeps on dreaming of Priams, Thebes, and Camelot and scorning the gold he kept seeking. Miniver Cheevy becomes convinced that the past he has been dreaming of was better than the present, and this makes him spend most of his time drinking rather than doing constructive activities.
Cheevy dreams of times and conditions that, in reality, have no connection with what he thinks they were. He hates the world that he is living in since he would like to see soldiers wearing “the medieval grace of iron clothing” (Line 23).rather than “khaki suit.” He is daydreaming of living in another era where he wishes he were a knight wearing shining armor. Since he cannot get the things he wants, he copes with his unhappiness by drinking alcohol (Johnson and Thomas 46). There is a huge disconnection between reality and his aspirations. He cannot get the things he wants. “Miniver scorned the gold he sought…But sore annoyed was he without it” (Line 25-26). Miniver is simply a lazy man who wants to live a better life, but he is not willing to work for it.
Miniver is a self-centered person who keeps on dreaming of how things would have been different if he had lived in a more romantic and exciting period. He does not recognize the deficiency within himself without understanding that he would have suffered the same way if he did not appreciate the beauties in life at any time (Johnson and Thomas 71). “Miniver cursed the commonplace” (Line 21). He was unwilling and unable to see things the way they were.
Miniver is a self-pitying dreamer who keeps on blaming the world for his poverty and social status. He is not willing to do anything to change his future. “And dreamed, and rested from his labors” (Line 10). This is a clear indication that he was an underachiever who wanted things to fall into place. Although he has reasons to have “wept that he was ever born” Line 3, no one would be companionate for him after realizing that he was just trying to escape the world of reality.
Miniver Cheevy believes that he would have been most successful and happier if he would have been born during the medieval times. It is easy to note that his frequent drinking habits would have made him poorer than he is now. By choosing the hopeless thoughts of other people, he becomes a failure. “He dreamed of Thebes and Camelot, And Priam’s neighbors” (Line 11-12). Miniver believes that the reason for his poor state is his unfortunate destiny and not his fault.
Miniver is portrayed as an outcast and has nothing that people can admire in him. He is a lazy person who is not willing to work or do something to change his current situation. He believes that he was born in the wrong time and that there is nothing he can do to live a better life. He fails to accept his life, does nothing to change his situation, and chooses alcohol and daydreaming to help him escape the present.
Works Cited
Johnson, Greg, and Thomas R. Arp. Perrine’s Literature: Structure, Sound & Sense. Cengage Learning, 2015.
Robinson, Edwin Arlington, Patrice AnnMarie Baldwin, and Gerard Baldwin. Miniver Cheevy. Pequeño Press, 1993.