Rodney Jones Argument

Jones begins his poem Hubris at Zunzal by mentioning the power of language. He claims there is "no image like the image of language," which I interpret to mean that language is more powerful than any other form of communication. He continues the poem describing one night in 1984 that he was on the water, and uses words to paint an image in the reader's imagination. His careful selection of action verbs such as wading and dumped make his poem powerful. Rodney Jones seems to agree that an image of his evening on the water would not be as powerful as his careful description. In earlier posts, you can learn how skeptical I am about images forming arguments. An argument needs to be clear and distinct for it to be effective, and I believe that Jones is correct in stating that language is the only accurate way to distinctly portray anything. I like how he says that language is its tracer, it referring to the night he is remembering. Today many people rely on social media and images to hold on to their memories, but this poem reminds society that language is just as powerful, if not more so.

After reading this poem for the first time, I did not feel he wrote it with the intention of making an argument. It reads as a memory of a night he will never forget, even though it only lives on in his head. An image, or even an array of images, cannot accurately display the power of the ocean. Jones writes about how after dropping the coconut shell into the ocean, it would come right back. For anyone who as ever taken the time to see the beauty of the ocean, they would agree that a picture cannot do it justice. Rodney places language on the same level as the ocean in a way, stating that language is the only way to portray such as beautiful night. He almost puts language on a pedestal, by putting down images before he begins to explain a night that is over two decades ago. I find Jones' approach interesting and intriguing; this poem forced me to reconsider the power of words.