Castle_Made_of_Sand_Analysis

In the song “Castle made of sand,” Jim Hendrix uses recurring symbols, ,irony imagery in verses to reflect the themes in the song. The first verse starts with the girl arguing with a drunk man. As the woman screams at the man and call him a “disgrace”, the man tried to justified his own action and thereby called the girl “mad.” But later this man’s regret for his action manifests as “his tears fall.” That the woman “slams the door in his drunken face” reveals a sense of disconnection between her and the man. And this ultimately makes the man question “what happened to the sweet love you and me had'” and it reflects the man’s uncertainty in the stability of their relationship. The verse is then ended with “And so castles made of sand fall in the sea, eventually.” Here the love between the couple, which resembles the “castle made of sand”, eventually melts away like the castle fall into the see. As the boy get older, he thinks he get closer to his dream, his dream was ironically faded away from him. The boy’s “dream grew strong” until “surprise attack killed him in his sleep,” in the night of his first battle but also his last struggle. Here the castle of sand resembles the boy’s strong belief and will, but it crumbles under power of uncertainty---am unpredictable sea wave, like the surprise attack. Again, the repetition of the last line emphasizes again that no matter how great things are, they will eventually fade away like sand castle melts by the sea. The final verse is the turning point of the whole songs. That her “heart was a frown” and that “she wished and prayed she could stop living” reflects that the girl is full of desperation since “she was crippled for life” and “couldn’t speak a sound.” Consequently, the miserable girl decides jump into the sea to end his life as she “drove her wheel chair to the edge.” The sense of hope aroused when she a “golden winged ship”---the girl all the sudden “recovered” as she can “jump and speak.” Here the golden ship enlightens the girl’s life againa; thus like the ship, the girl’s life “didn’t have to stop and it just kept going.” The sudden appearance golden ship parellels our reality---although we know that life will fade away like the castle made of sand slip into the sea, we should live with it because we may one day see a miracle. “Castle made of sand” puts together two very contrasting words. Castles generally represent something strong, majestic, and long lasting, but castles of sand depict the opposite of this. Something made of sand is easily destroyed, disappearing quickly. The love between the woman and man, the Indian boy's dream to be a warrior, and the crippled girl's incentive to continue living were all castles made of sand that melted away into the sea of the reality of life, the reality that life is unfair and unpredictable.