The Dial Turner

I based this poem off the Milgram experiment.

Screaming in a room

People see and regret

 

And turn the dial up

Staring at dilated eyes

Wide and wet

 

More and more is ordered firm

They conform

 

And continue until the body

Ceases to squirm

 

Eyes wide open

And body quite still

Tells the turner

 

" Thanks for helping science

You boring, pitiless,pitiful, conformer."

Reviews

[JR Darewood]

This makes me think of Milgram's famous experiments, but this is way way darker. It's macabre and gruesome but its really that last line that makes it hit home, and when all horror above is suddenly given a moral meaning, it hits you like a ton of bricks.
btw, you missed an "r" in Staring on the fourth line

[JR Darewood]

oh wait, I just saw your description where it says it's based off Milgram. i guess i'm not so clever for figuring it out on my own!

[Emily Dickinson Jr.]

wow J I"m glad you liked and to tell the truth a tad bit amazed you picked up on the connection since you didnt see the description so I still think ur plenty clever. also I know a lot of ppl dnt read the description so I'm a little worried about ppl understanding the poem. thanx for the heads up I fixed the staring thing that happens to me a lot because I refuse to cut and paste so I dont get the spell check

[JR Darewood]

i think it's cool if they don't get the reference too, it makes a poignant point with or without catching it. Milgram's test subjects were actors and this is gruesomely real.

[Emily Dickinson Jr.]

aww you think so? thanks :-) in my human adjustment class one of my friends did a presentation on his experiment and I was simply inspired!

[YouoweYoupay]

Milgram experiments revealed that around 9 out of 10 ordinary people are easily able to justify violence. Your poem had me thinking, and thanks to that I read more and learned more. The last line is good. It sums up what we people are these days. We need to open our eyes. Thanks for sharing, Emily. Keep writing.

-Rain.

[Emily Dickinson Jr.]

i'm really glad you enjoyed it and that it got you thinking. I've actually otten more negative feedback for this poem than any of my others. This poem is about the experiment but the last line is an opinion of mine about society. ppl dont always agree with my opinion but theres nothing i can do about that lol

[Ninja Empyrean]

Its funny. Eighty percent of people surveyed prior and apart from this study said they wouldnt go past the initial small shocks administerd in the milgrim experiments. Then in the end close to all of the people, with a little push from the proctor, went all the way, despite the confederate faking death! Hilarious. The last line, the quote kind of struck me as harsh. I meant genetically, socially, cultually, demographically, we all conform to some level. The experiment was initally engineered to explain the motions of the people of germany during the nazi occupation and regime. Milgram wanted to prove that certain people were more subject to conformity than others, and in the end we found out that well all conform, more than we realize. Interesting though.

[Emily Dickinson Jr.]

thank you :-) i have had people complain that my poem's ending doesn't coincide with milgrim's intent in his experiemnets. However this poem isn't merely an unbiased account of his experiment. It's also about my opinion and how disgusting I myself find the type of conformity that could cause untold paint to others. Maybe the ending was harsh, maybe I can be a harsh person, but also maybe others aren't harsh enough about the the actions of others who are far to harsh toward the innocent undeserving.

[Ninja Empyrean]

I get it. Thanks for the poem.

[Emily Dickinson Jr.]

Lol no problem

[Ninja Empyrean]

Do you like sci-fi?

[Emily Dickinson Jr.]

some not a huge fan though. I like writing it though most of my short stories can be defined as scifi

[Ninja Empyrean]

Can you review a chapter of Wiggle Room? Its my only book on this site.

[Blue Ivory]

Lol I really like this
You kept it short and deep. Like your words pierce. The last lines were funny

[Emily Dickinson Jr.]

That's exactly what I was going for!

[SHEEMA HUQ]

the last line made me crack up, a very nicely contructed poem

[Emily Dickinson Jr.]

why thank yuo sheema I'm glad you enjoyed it! not everone understands my particular brand of humor or appreciate it but its conforting to know there are those such as yourself who do get me. ya know?

[Racy Daniel]

Good work.

[Emily Dickinson Jr.]

Thank you racy I'm glad you enjoyed it

[Alexa Tasch]

The last line is great! Its very powerful and is a perfect ending to such a great poem. The concept is interesting and I just loved the whole thing

[Emily Dickinson Jr.]

I'm really glad you liked it! One of my classmates did a presentation on the experiment and I simply couldn't resist writing a poem on it.

[KeeD]

very creative, love what you've done making science fun and also getting out a message!

[once in love]

okay i am impressed. to take the Milgram Experiment and turn it into a poem alone is amazing but a "political view on society" is just flat out awesome. brilliant!

[Emily Dickinson Jr.]

well, I do love to impress lol I'm really conforted that you enjoyed it I've gotten some bad feedback on this poem. I'm glad the majority at least enjoyed it though :-)