Throughout "Mushrooms," the mushrooms are struggling in their own way to be free. The most popular interpretation is that these mushrooms represent the struggles of women to gain respect and rights. But any oppressed people entrapped by the society they live in could look to this poem as an inspiration to break free from their confinement. Don't let the dirt and pine needles stand in your way, world.
Questions About Freedom and Confinement
- In what ways do the metaphorical mushrooms try to gain their freedom? How do these ways equate with methods used by women and other oppressed groups?
- What metaphorical forces are entrapping the mushrooms? How do they translate into reality for women and other oppressed groups?
- In what ways do the mushrooms entrap themselves?
Chew on This
The poem alludes to the ways that society can entrap certain groups, but it doesn't let those groups off the hook for the ways in which they entrap themselves. Time for a good long look in the mushroom mirror.
The mushrooms and the people they represent plan to break free through slow and steady progress, because slow and steady wins the race—even if you're a mushroom.