The End and the Beginning

Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 2001

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Summary

Background

Poem Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Background

Literary Context

Wisława Szymborska came of age during World War II. Born in 1923, she was a part of the Columbus Generation: a group of young writers and creatives born around 1920 whose adolescence was shaped by war and occupation (see: “Historical Context”). This generational title was specifically used to describe those writers, like Szymborska, whose art was influenced by the horrors and day-to-day realities of living through a major historical event.

Szymborska’s poetry is seminal to the Polish poetic canon. Her poems are deceptively simple and direct, making her work extremely difficult to categorize within one school of poetry alone. Szymborska employs the irony and wit characteristic of postmodernism in many of her poems, but also works to expand the postmodern movement by examining the specifically domestic details of historical conflicts. For Szymborska, this is what traditional concepts of history lack: an emphasis on the ordinary. Her voice is distinct, unlike any other poet writing at the time, and it is Szymborska’s ability to articulate the importance of everyday struggles in an accessible tone that ensures her poetry’s global acclaim.

Historical Context

World War II completely altered the cultural and literary life of Poland. In September of 1939, Poland was invaded and subsequently occupied by two major powers, the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany, stripping Poland of the independence it had previously gained only 21 years earlier in 1918. Both the Soviet and Nazi powers attempted to fully eradicate Polish culture, subjugating the citizens of the country and spreading mass amounts of propaganda, accusing Polish authorities of the crimes they themselves were committing.

Szymborska was 16 years old at this time, and endured the harsh conditions of the occupation until its end in 1945. All institutions—artistic, educational, and otherwise—were under the control of the Soviet and Nazi occupiers. However, this did not stop artists from creating work in secret. The influence of this historical period is extremely apparent within “The End and the Beginning,” as Szymborska uses her own traumatic memories associated with the aftermath of the occupation and war to create her art.

“The End and the Beginning” addresses the societal struggles of rebuilding after war and remembering the history surrounding this rebuilding. War levels destruction, but newer generations often forget the cost of war and the hard work that those before them put in to make the world a better place. Though Szymborska never specifies which war “The End and the Beginning” references, readers can infer that the aftermath is connected to World War II due to Szymborska’s personal connection to the horrific events.