The Fall of Man Represented in Atwood's Backdrop Speeches CowboyThe sexual politics of the man- womanhood, or more specifically the sexual exploitation of women by men, is a clear concern in Margaret Atwood's “The Backdrop is for the Cowboy.” Although the theme of the oppressor as man is by no means an original source of poetic inspiration, Atwood's particularity is that she considers the destructive male-female relationship as a metaphor, a symptom and a symbol of greater things. From the perspective of female consciousness, Margaret Atwood emphasizes the “backdrop” as being not only the woman, but also the earth and spiritual life of the universe; the “cowboy” is both a man hungry for personal gain (perhaps an American based on Atwood's strong anti-American sentiments in his novel, Surfacing) and an emissary of technological progress. The structure of the poem logically supports the theme of conflict and 'imperialism' in that it is clearly divided into two sections or 'camps'. The first four stanzas offer a description of “you,” the “righteous and heroic” cowboy who brutalizes life without creating a new one. The perspective then shifts from predator to prey in the last five stanzas as the “me”, presented as a victimized woman and an exploited nature, “addresses” her antagonist. The tone or mood of "Backdrop Addresses Cowboy" also undergoes a change after the first four stanzas as the reader enters into the tragic and joyless experience of one who pays the price of "massacre and desecration." At this point in the poem it seems futile to question whether or not the price should be paid and the metaphorical tension between man and woman remains unresolved. In terms of form, "Backdrop Addresses Cowboy" is written in open (org...... middle of paper ......esecrate", the word placed emphatically in the climactic line of "Backdrop Addresses Cowboy", once again emphasizes the "background" as not only woman, but also the earth and the spiritual life of the universe. As an emissary of technological progress, man has committed a sacrilegious act against nature. and humanity and its "fall" embodies the fall of humanity the spiritual, the historical and the rational In Margaret Atwood's poem, the troubled male-female relationship is therefore the symptom and symbol of a. greatest alienation within humanity Man's past and present attachments to human, natural and spiritual life are expressed metaphorically in terms of a cowboy "winning the West" on a film set. , against a backdrop of “support” for his heroism, “Background Addresses Cowboy” offers a vision that is both desolate and consciously expanding, but it does not present answers...