Considering the poem "The Cadaver,"" readers gain a perspective and lens into a medical professional's life as literary techniques enhance the audience's perception of the distressing events they are exposed to every day. Utilizing methods of imagery and metaphor, the physical words come to life, draw comparisons and elicit a response from the reader, ultimately establishing Alice Jones's poem as a strong work of literature. The imagery implemented throughout this work is overwhelming as descriptions come to being, allowing the reader to visualize the events occurring before their eyes. The body is depicted as cool, rubbery, and detached from humanity. Throughout the poem, readers take on the perspective of a medical student as "things with weight and texture could be felt by your palpating fingers, their details encompassed by the eye"" (76) and can comprehend this sense of touch themselves. Ironically, the body is depicted as lifeless yet diseases are personified: "cancer ate it"" (72). In grotesque imagery, readers see the conquering nature of the disease, inflicting a tragic death upon a helpless human. Another form of imagery evoked throughout this piece is the awakening of a reader's sense of smell. As readers are "Overwhelmed by smell," (70) they can generate a paralleled environment to the events the medical students are experiencing first hand. Throughout the dissection, the "smell of burnt fur and fried fat"" (77) and "burned bone"" (79) persists. Despite these smells being abnormal in daily lives of readers, one must recognize the pivotal awakening of these senses that illustrate a conception of reality. By eliciting these senses, Jones has a powerful impact on her audience and their understanding of abstract medical experiences, just as she does with metaphors. .
Intentioned implementation of metaphors contribute to the portrayal of "The Cadaver,"" as Alice Jones draws comparisons that resonate with her readers.
