Liann Rozenberg Week 11 - Pick a Poet #3

In logic, the meaning of tautology is an assertion or formula that is true in every possible interpretation. They are basically redundancies, and ultimately do not need to be stated. In “Tautology,” by Ari Banias, he explains that two different statements aren’t actually different; they aren’t necessary to analyze in different ways. “Something in the tree is arguing with the tree. No, that’s just the tree” (Banias). He’s telling himself that there is something within the tree that is arguing back with it, but those two sides are basically the same. So, he tells himself, no, it’s simply just a tree because that’s all it really is. 

The title, “Tautology,” is significant to the whole poem because the poem’s true meaning would be almost impossible to understand. A reader is able to understand that Banias is saying a tautology is undesirable and can make a person sound foolish.

“I had a body and it was good until you gave it meaning” (Banias). This shows us that he is trying to say that not everything should be defined or stated. “Meaning ruined pleasure and created it, so ruined creates and pleasure’s meaning” (Banias). This is a tautology where Banias is saying that meaning and pleasure in his case are the same and defining them is just pointless and redundant.

I believe in some cases a tautology is beneficial to see a statement from two perspectives. But if it sounds repetitive, it could be pointless and even ruin its meaning.

Banias did a good way of explaining what he feels about tautologies, but he did so very subtly. As I said before, the title was crucial in understanding the underlying meaning of his poem.