A Dig for Meaning

     In "Digging" by Seamus Heaney, one can truly see the connection present between his life as a writer and his father's life as a farmer. The symbolism of the spade that the narrator's father uses is directly related to his pen in his hand. The purpose of this poem, as I saw it, was to highlight the digging that the narrator's father was constantly doing, and then relate this to the narrator's physical writing.
     The author's use of digging both directly and metaphorically accentuates the narrator's relation to his father. The narrator describes his own way of digging as digging through paper with a pen in hand. His father, however, "could handle a spade, just like his old man," and dug for days to support his farm (Perrine 730). The indication that the narrator's grandfather was also a farmer emphasizes the importance and the stand the narrator is taking by choosing his own path. He is defying tradition, but in his own mind, is actually keeping the tradition going in its own special way.
     "Living roots awaken in [the narrator's] head," which sprout his inspiration for writing (731). This segment of the poem is one of the most intriguing to me. The relation between roots and the narrator's father is imminent, but what isn't so noticeable is the relationship between these mental roots and the narrator's thought process. The roots that his father had dug up for so many years are now what drive him to dig deeper with his writing, and what inspire him to write what he does.