your life that you needed to do something about, but in order to do something about it, you

had to confront the problem and that caused you pain and more troubles? I believe that to

be the underlying conflict in Adrienne Rich's "Rape". The main character who the

speaker is talking to first is a woman who has been sexually violated. She is a victim of a

heinous and very private, embarrassing crime. The officer that she has reported her

situation to is a policeman who patrols her area and who her family knows and trust. Her

family is very close to this officer, for "he comes from your block, grew up with your

brothers.(2)" She doesn't know him that well though, which makes her telling him about

the incident that much more painful and uncomfortable. She gives him all the details of

the crime and about her assailant. She has the idea that the cop may have been her rapist.

The woman has a certain bit of suspicion about the officer, b

poem about a woman who is reporting a case of rape to a policeman who may just be the

question, so the speaker tells the reader about the incident, the evidence, and about enough

speaker defiantly suspects him. The rape victim knows very little about the criminal in

facts to let them come up with there own suspect. The first statement made by the speaker

with a description the cop's eyes, a very soothing image. Its the last verse of this stanza

incriminating. The speaker says the "You hardly know him in his boots and silver badge,

prowler and a father figure. He is suppose to be an ally against crime and problems on his

The last stanza contains some good closing thoughts. It is also interesting because

her problems and concerns to the officer. The forth stanza is quite intriguing. It starts off

this stanza when the speaker says "He has access to the machinery that could get you put

Some common words found in the essay are:
Rich's Rape, Adrienne Rich, , believe rapist, poem woman, speaker talking, suspicion officer, policeman rapist, rapist speaker,
Approximate Word count = 708
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)