The Circle Game by Margaret Atwood

 Margaret Atwood's poem, "The Circle Game" is a meditation on the cyclical nature of life. The poem begins with the speaker describing a childhood game in which children form a circle and toss a ball around. The speaker then goes on to compare this game to the cycle of life, arguing that we are all caught up in a never-ending cycle of birth, death, and rebirth.

The poem is full of symbols that reinforce the theme of cyclicality. The circle itself is a symbol of wholeness and completeness, but it can also be seen as a symbol of entrapment. The ball, which is tossed around the circle, represents the individual, who is constantly moving through life but never really getting anywhere.

The poem also uses the imagery of water to suggest the cyclical nature of life. The speaker describes the children playing in the "circle game" as being "like fish in a bowl", and she later compares the cycle of life to "the waves of the sea". The water imagery suggests that life is a fluid and ever-changing thing, and we are all caught up in its currents.

The poem ends with the speaker asking the question, "Who keeps the circle unbroken?" This question suggests that the cycle of life is something that is beyond our control. We are all born into this cycle, and we will all die within it.

However, the poem also suggests that we can choose how we participate in the cycle. We can choose to be trapped by it, or we can choose to break free.