Question

What does the “stake in your fat black heart” signify in the poem’s conclusion?

• A. A literal murder
• B. The speaker’s final rejection of her father’s haunting influence
• C. Her desire for reconciliation
• D. The villagers’ love for her father

Answer 1

Answer:

B. The speaker’s final rejection of her father’s haunting influence

The stake through the heart symbolizes the speaker’s symbolic killing of her father’s oppressive image, finally freeing herself from its grip.