A Work Of Artifice

The subject of the poem is artifice: an act of deliberate and clever deception. Such a description of the practice of bonsai is unusual, since bonsai is often described as an art or a craft. Unlike these nouns, which are associated with creativity, productivity, and skill, “artifice” has a negative connotation. But who is being deceived? As the poem progresses, it becomes clear that not only is the bonsai tree created using artifice, it is also the tree that is being tricked. Thus, the bonsai tree is subjected to artifice in multiple and insidious ways.

Though the poem opens with seemingly straightforward narration, the title prefigures themes of deception and oppression. The narrator describes the bonsai tree as being grown in an “attractive” (Line 2) pot, which draws attention to the importance of aesthetic appeal. The image of the small tree in the beautiful pot is contrasted with that of a wild tree on the mountainside. The two contradictory images—the tiny ornamental tree in a pot in a domestic space and a wild tree riven by lightning during a storm on the mountainside—present two possible fates. The implicit question here is which fate is better? The narrator seems to answer this question when they say, “But a gardener/ carefully pruned it” (Lines 6-7) The connector “but” implies that the gardener’s care saved the tree from danger and death. Thus, it may appear that the tree has a better fate as a bonsai.

However, this suggestion is undone in Lines 8-16, which elaborate on the gardener’s treatment of the tree. In Line 8, the narrator says in a matter-of-fact tone that the tree now is “nine inches high.” The current height of the bonsai tree immediately recalls its possible height of 80 feet mentioned in the poem’s opening lines. The precise numbers expose the gulf between the tree’s reality and its potential. Now, the reader is forced to consider the tree’s lost potential rather than its current, miniature beauty. Thus, Piercy artfully creates tension in the poem and deepens its sense of irony.

The poem presents another question to the reader: Is it better to be safe and nine-inches tall in an indoor setting, or wild and 80-ft high on a mountainside? The answer is no longer as obvious as before. Moreover, the reader is forced to again pay attention to the tree’s possible 80-ft height; such a height implies the tree grew for many years and reached its full potential. Its life would not have been cut short, so miniaturization does not help it. If the miniaturization does not help the tree, whom does it service? The reader begins to infer that safekeeping is not the reason the bonsai is being cultivated. Safety is only the illusion—part of the artifice—the bonsai is shown to justify its containment.

The artifice is further exposed when the gardener tends to the bonsai tree. The narrator’s diction choices for the gardener’s caring ritual are rife with tension, containing words with contradicting emotional associations. For instance, the gardener “croons” (Line 11) to the tree while he whittles it back. While “croons” evokes tenderness, as if a parent singing to a child or a lover to another, “whittles” (Line 9) evokes destruction. The gardener seems to be showering care on the plant, but he has a hidden agenda. He tells the plant it is cozy and small, but that it is also “weak” (Line 14); further, the gardener asserts that the plant should consider itself lucky to have a pot which keeps it safe. The second mention of the pot in Line 16 has a different connotation from the “attractive pot” of Line 2. The pot is now where the bonsai tree is confined because of its supposed helplessness. Thus, the pot becomes a symbol of oppression and confinement.

The introduction of the word “domestic,” (Line 14) traditionally associated with women and femininity, hints to the reader that the bonsai tree is an elaborate metaphor for a woman. In this context, the male gardener begins to represent male oppression. By the gardener’s disingenuous tone, it becomes clear that he is grooming the bonsai tree not just in form, but in spirit, leading it to believe it is weak. He is patronizing the tree so he can manipulate it. Of course, when the reader considers that the tree represents a sentient human, the extent of the gardener’s manipulation becomes even more ludicrous.

From Lines 17-24, the bonsai tree’s association with a woman is clearly defined. The narrator makes the remark that to stunt or “dwarf” (Line 19) the potential of a living thing, manipulation and indoctrination must begin early. As an example of such manipulations, the speaker refers to specific beauty rituals imposed upon women. Just like with the bonsai tree, such physical whittling down mirrors the spiritual confinement of the women. The practices to which the narrator refers are diverse in cultural origin as well as severity. For instance, the Chinese ritual of binding women’s feet is far more severe than the practice of curling straight hair. The narrator includes varying beauty rituals to suggest that the appearance of femininity is used to different extents and degrees to limit the movement of women in differing cultural settings.

“The crippled brain” (Line 21) refers to brainwashing, suggesting that suppression often covertly works. Women are made to believe they are meant to be like the bonsai; this occurs through indoctrination from an early age. That is why “with living creatures / one must begin very early” (Lines 17-18). Finally, the suggestion that women’s hands are kept soft because men must have something soft to touch shows the full extent of the insidiousness of patriarchy. Like bonsai trees are created to look cute, women are forced into feminine roles for men’s pleasure and convenience.