“A Mongoloid Child Handling Shells on the Beach” is a narrative poem written by Richard Snyders, “A Mongoloid Child Handling Shells on the Beach”, it may be recognized that the poem is indeed about a child, happily gathering shells upon the shore. However, if we closely consider the diction and connotations that Synder uses, we can speculate that the meaning of the poem depicts a deeper and darker theme. The title itself gives us an idea from the beginning.

The word Mongoloid, as identified in Websters New World Dictionary is an early term for Down’s Syndrome, a state of mental retardation. Therefore I believe that the poem represents the child as an outcast from the norm of society. There are several words in the text that refer to the child that we usually wouldn’t associate with youth. An early clue would again be found in the title, “A Mongoloid Child Handling Shells on the Beach”. Notice that Snyder used the word “handling” instead of playing or collecting, words which we might think of while envisioning a young girl investigating sea shells. Snyder also uses the word ‘slow’ to describe the child on more than one occasion, as we see in line one and line eight: “She turns them over in her slow hands/ …hums back to it its slow vowels.” Yet another example could be in line four, which reads: ” they are the calmest things on this sand.” Calm is yet another word that we would not most likely use to portray a young child. It very well could be that the author is trying to paint a picture of her impairment and symbolize her condition through her actions. Considering Snyder depicted the ocean as “..the margarine maze,” instead of simply stating that it is the “deep blue sea”, it is easy to speculate that the ocean represents life itself. Her being outside of the water while all the other children are swimming is a key example of her being isolated. The way that she is presented, which is slow and rather solemn, contrasts with the other children who are “rough as surf, gay as their nesting towels.”.

 I feel that this kind of symbolism is repeated throughout the remainder of the poem. The seashells, for instance, are another important representation of her isolation. It reads in line three: ” broken bits from a margarine maze,”. If we look at the margarine maze as being life, and the shells are broken bits of it washed ashore, it becomes clear that the girl is swept out of the regular society, much as the shells were swept out of the sea. It is even more comprehensible when we consider the line “The unbroken children splash and shout,”. What Snyder meant by “unbroken children” is that they are not broken off from life, much like the child. They are not broken off of the sea, much like the shells. The child and the shells seem to have a valuable bond in portraying the girls solitude form society. This idea becomes even more graspable if we look at lines seven and eight: “But she plays soberly with the sea’s small change…”.

Websters New World Dictionary defines the phrase small change as ” petty or unimportant”. It may very well be that the child is seen as less important by people of the society. She is the only one who plays with the shells, perhaps the only one who can truly appreciate them. Perhaps it is that the other children ignored the shells on the beach, and were tantalized by the water instead, and maybe this is a foreshadow of her life-to-be, being ignored and pushed out by others. It is unmistakable that this poem describes a child on the margin of society. Yet even though she does not enjoy the beach as the other children do, I feel that she does not resent them, but rather takes pleasure in the small and insignificant things, much like herself. Snyder uses a cacophony of symbolic imagery and carefully chosen words to convey a message about the girl's life as it is, and perhaps how it will become.

Important Questions Solutions:

1. What is suggested by the phrase “unbroken children”?
Ans. The phrase “unbroken children” suggests that the children are whole or complete in every aspect. All their sense organs and body parts are complete and perfect. They can play, shout, hear and see perfectly. By using the phrase “unbroken children”, the poet wants us to contrast them with the Mongoloid child whose body parts and sense organs are not in a healthy condition.

2. How is the childlike the sea? How are the other children like the surf? What do the differences between sea and surf contribute to Richard Snyder’s poem?
Ans. The poet uses sea metaphor to explain to the Mongoloid child while he uses the surfing metaphor to present the behaviour of the other normal children. The sea is calm, slow, mysterious and makes small changes. Similarly, the Mongoloid girl is also slow, sober, mysterious and calm. Likewise, the surf is wild, stormy, noisy and violent; so are the unbroken children. By using the sea and surf metaphor, the poet wants us to compare and contrast both handicapped and normal children.

3. What is the poet’s attitude towards the child? How can you tell?
Ans. The poet’s attitude towards the Mongoloid child is sympathetic and full of love. He does not hate her but finds her lovable and full of potential as the sea. At the same time, he contrasts her with the violent and wild surf-like normal children.

4. Should the poem now be retitled as “A Child with Down’s Syndrome….” Would that be effective?
Ans. I don’t think that this poem should be retitled as “A Child with Down’s Syndrome…”. The word ‘Down’ would suggest that the child is down in every aspect. It would suggest negativity in the child. The poet in this poem is actually glorifying the child, so the new title would be bad and will not meet with the poem’s theme. The word ‘Mongoloid’ has several connotative meanings. By using the word ‘mongoloid’ the poet directly gives us the physical structure of the child making us think that the girl is similar to the Mongol race who have small eyes, flat face, small hands and legs, and large head.