"I'm Nobody! Who are you?"

Emily Dickinson's "I'm Nobody! Who are you?" is a classic poem. I interpret the poem as a slam against society, and as a high schooler, against the popular students. "Are you nobody, too?" can be interpreted as the author finding a fellow outcast, a nobody, among the frogs in the bog that is the setting in the poem (Dickinson). Later in the poem the author warns the fellow nobody to not tell as they will be "banished" (Dickinson). I interpret that as the author living in a society that prohibits difference and "nobodies" that could ruin the utopian of society where everyone else are frogs. The author hides her difference, her status as a "nobody", so she will not get banished (Dickinson). The frogs, the somebodies, tell their name "the livelong day" to the bog (Dickinson). The way that the author tells the reader that comes off in a mocking way that reinforces the idea that being a "nobody" is better than it sounds and is worth the possible "banishment" (Dickinson). In a bog or a swamp in real life, frogs croak and sound similar to other frogs. As most frogs' croaks sound the same, the noise blends into an "unidentifiable mass" (Priddy). Being a "somebody" or frog is boring and unoriginal as the "frogs" tend to blend in with each other and there is not individuality, only a collective. "I'm Nobody! Who are you?" reminds me of the Borg Collective. Resistance is futile, as "nobodies" are banished if found, so everyone is a Borg, or in Dickinson's case a frog. Every once and a while a Seven of Nine or a Hugo comes along and breaks off from the collective becoming a "nobody" and is broken off from the collective mind and are individuals. "Nobodies" are unique individuals that are different from the "frogs", but accept the individuality and feel sorry for the "dreary" frogs (Dickinson). The author welcomes the fellow nobody, the reader, as they are few in a society of frogs.



Dickinson, Emily . "I'm Nobody! Who are you?." Bartleby.com: Great Books Online. Web. 11 Mar. 2012.

Priddy, Anna. "'I'm Nobody! Who are you?'." Bloom's How to Write about Emily Dickinson. New York: Chelsea House Publishing, 2007. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 11 Mar. 2012.