Rapunzel is a fictional character of Greek mythology. She was a beautiful princess who was captured by a witch and locked in a tower with no door. She was very beautiful and had very long golden hair. You can read the story of Rapunzel here.

In this poem, Amanda imagines herself to be Rapunzel because she desires to remain alone in place. She does not want any humans around her. She even says that as a Rapunzel, she will certainly never let her bright golden hair down (which original Rapunzel used to do for her love).

The words of Amanda show how much fed up she is with her parents and whole humanity.

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Irony of the poem Amanda is that the parents (probably mother) of the little Amanda never understand her. She is scolded by her mother everyday for different things like being lazy, bending shoulders, not doing her work, eating chocolates, remaining moody etc.

She is very young and innocent. The harsh words of her mother make her depressed. She even desires to be an orphan i.e. live without her parents. Her mother can never understand how her words effect the life of Amanda. She never seems to be talking with Amanda in a polite way.

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Following are the main themes in the poem Amanda:

Children are Innocent and Sensitive

In the poem, little Amanda is very innocent and sensitive. Everyday she is insulted and scolded by her mother for not obeying her. Her mother asks her to do this and that. Amanda being sensitive, cannot bear the harsh words and instead escapes into imaginations. She imagines herself as superficial characters (those who don’t exist) like Rapunzel, mermaid etc.

She even desires to be an orphan i.e. without parents because she desires freedom, liberty, peace and quietness. It shows that how her life has been restricted by her parents. The poem thus deals which a very important theme; freedom and liberty for children. Those who are brought up in restricted conditions are often moody and easily irritating.

Creativity of Amanda

Little Amanda seems to be a very creative child. She imagines to be a mermaid (an aquatic creature with the head and upper body of a female human and the tail of a fish) in the slow moving, green and quiet sea. Next, she imagines to be an orphan and walk with bare feet as a free child. Imagine how creative she is!.

She also imagines herself to be Rapunzel and desires to remain in the locked castle (without a door) and does not want any human around her.

Hence, the poet wants to show that a child is very creative. Most of the parents cannot understand or appreciate their creativity which the poet seems to be criticising in the poem.

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In the final stanza, we come to know that Amanda is short-tempered, angry and moody girl. She always remain in rage and never seems to be smiling. However there are reasons behind such a mood of her.

She is often subjected to insult, abuse and harsh behaviour. Her mother keeps taunting and scolding her without know how it is affecting her.

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Amanda says so because both silence and freedom have been snatched her mother. Her mother keeps shouting at her all the time and also does not leave her free. So, Amanda desires freedom and silence. This is why she calls silence gold and freedom sweet.

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