Analysis of Dickenson's "When I heard a fly buzz

Analysis of Dickenson’s “I Heard a fly buzz-when I died”

“I Heard a fly buzz-when I died” depicts a 19th century woman “…recalling her own deathbed scene, focusing on the suspenseful interval during which she and loved ones await the arrival of death...” (Arp 949). Death in Emily Dickenson’s time was very much unlike death today. Instead of the typical deathbed scene of today, complete with a relaxed hospital patient soothed by painkillers, “before the age of powerful anodynes death was met in full consciousness…,” (Leone 79). Because of these differences in the past and present day, the reader gets the chance to be exposed to the character’s inner thoughts and feelings during this time. Through her use of theme, symbolism, and poetic devices Emily Dickenson explains her views on death and dying, in the poem “I Heard a fly buzz-when I died.”
First, throughout the poem, the central theme is death. More specifically it details the struggle...