Ode to My Socks Personal Response

Ode to My Socks
Pablo Neruda
Personal Response
S: Neruda
O: he received a pair of socks
A: those who believe that material things are important
P: to make people understand that material things are not important
S: socks
TONE: Revealing
Response:
When I first read the poem I did not get what Neruda’s message was meant to be. I had to read the poem over and over again and yet I do not believe that my interpretation is similar to Neruda’s. I thought of my own life and how much I have focused on the material things that I have worked for. I use to dwell on my selfish belief that the most important things were to be the popular girl, who everyone likes to be around, who knows all the latest trends in clothing and in make-up but then I realized that I am not that type of person. Growing up, I was never able to have many of the things that a lot of my friends were. The things that I have accomplished in my life and the things that I own have not been handed to me. I have had to work for all that I have.
The day that I die, I will not be able to take all that I “own” with me, so I have become the type of person who is less worried about having all the latest trends. I have become someone somewhat different from that. I know that many of my friends don’t understand why I work as many hours as I do and why I do as much as I do outside of school but the most important thing to me is my family and I could have all the money in the world but that would not make me happy. I could have every material thing I always wanted and could never have and that would not make me happy. Being able to help my family economically is the best satisfaction that working brings. It is not the money that I am after or the material things but the satisfaction of being able to help. Material things aren’t important.