barometric pressure bringing together combina-
tions of temperatures. Mora makes use of the
tornado’s behavior to convey the power of Nature,
personified as a woman.Anger
Although the tornado cannot really be said to be
driven by any emotion, the same cannot be said
of a human being. Mora draws a connection
between the weather and a person’s emotional
state. Though the tornado is not angry, the
woman it is meant to represent may well be.
Most of the images in the poem indicate anger.
Lightning, roaring, gusts, thunder, and howling, all
imply a person who is raging. According to the
poem’s title, she is uncoiling, or releasing, pent up
power. Even the end of the poem, which has the
woman falling asleep, seems like the rapid cooling
off of a person after an emotional outburst. The
only image that does not indicate anger is the
butterflies mentioned in thefirst stanza. Butterflies
are calm and delicate, which may reveal a placid
side of this angry person, or they could show that
peaceful creatures can be swallowed up in the
tumult of a person driven by rage.Female Strength
The poem presents the tornado as female, but it
does not give it any other specifically human
traits. It can, therefore, be interpreted as repre-
senting women in general. The impression is
positive, a kind of tribute to female power.
The tornado-like woman in ‘‘Uncoiling’’ is
described with respect, even though she is a fright-
ening and destructive force. She is seen more pos-
itively than the smaller, weaker women mentioned
instanzas3and4.Thesewomenarepalewiththe
fear as they lock themselves in their houses, sing-
ing to distract their children from the storm. Their
paleness also indicates they are not as vibrant, as
full of life, as the dark-haired powerful woman
represented by the tornado.
The fragile women, singing lace lullabies,
are not presented as negative characters, but
the poem does not treat them with the same
level of admiration it conveys for the woman
who is the tornado. Feminism as a philosophy
affirms female power and worth equal to male
power and worth. The woman described in this
poem is so strong and assertive that she is feared
by other women.TOPICS FOR
FURTHER
STUDY Write a poem describing a snowy or a hot
day, personifying the extreme weather as a
person.
Study the concept of the tornado in the myth-
ology of the indigenous people who lived in
the Southwest before Mexicans or Europeans
arrivedinthearea.Makeanillustrationor
drawing that tells a Native American story of
the tornado.
Mora mentions that hawks and butterflies
are caught in the tornado. Study the ways
that birds or winged insects react in turbu-
lent winds. Create a 3-D model or a com-
puter simulation that shows how its wings
react to increased wind pressure.
Compose a song in several movements, cor-
responding to the stanzas of this poem, that
captures the approach, full force, and then
the dissipation of a tornado. Perform the
song for your classmates.
Drawing from personal experience, write an
essay or a short story about facing a terrify-
ing situation and someone soothing a child
with a song, a story, or some other kind of
distraction.
Most psychologists say that anger is bad for
a person, but some say that expressing anger
is healthy. Find two scholarly articles that
you think take opposing views on this issue.
Summarize them, and then write your opin-
ion on the matter.
Every time a severe tornado touches down,
property can be destroyed. Do some research
on tornadoes and the destruction they cause,
and write a report about some particular inci-
dent when a tornado hit people’s houses and
what the people had to do afterward to repair
the damage.
Research the causes of tornadoes and then
write a report explaining the conditions that
give rise to them and the environmental
effects they have.
Uncoiling