At the Gym Essay -- Literary Analysis, Mark Doty

At the Gym, written by Mark Doty, dramatizes the conflict within the mind of a muscle builder and his desire to change who and what he is. The speaker observes the routines of the bodybuilder bench-pressing at a local gym, and attempts to explain the driving force that compels him to change his appearance. The speaker illustrates the physical mapping of inanimate objects as the tools used for the desired transformation and hoist nothing that need be lifted (5,6). However, coupled with but some burden theyve elect this time (7), the speaker takes the illustration beyond the physical use of the tools of transformation and delves into the bodybuilders mental state. The speaker ends by portraying the bodybuilder as an arrogant, muscular being with fragile feelings of insecurity. Similar to a church communion table where baptisms take place, the speaker begins by depicting the bench press as an altar of change and transformation. Illustrating the setting in this manner sug gests that the speaker begins to wonders what drives the bodybuilder to lift an inanimate object repeatedly w...