The Onion

I think that my favorite thing about this poem is its lighthearted nature and the way that the author uses language. For instance, I love the way that the author makes up words to illustrate the point that an onion is simply an onion through and through, creating words such as "onionist," "onionhood," "onionymous," and "daimonion." Inserting "onion" in these words shows that an onion is simply an onion all the way to its core. Mainly, I thought that the author was simply comparing the beauty and repetitive thoroughness of an onion to a human, which houses all sorts of innards inside its exterior. The onion, on the other hand, is perfect, if you peel back one layer, it will reveal another just like it. As a contrast, humans' insides are considered an "internal inferno." I believe that this could be in a literal and metaphoric sense. In a metaphoric sense, I believe that it means that we are conflicted and don't always show who we truly are on the outside. If we could learn to be ourselves in all our layers, like the onion, we would live a much happier existence. However, the author ultimately states in the poem's last two lines that this is impossible.