The Chimney Sweep and the Barbie Doll: An Unlikely Pair At first glance, the poems The Chimney Sweeper by William Blake and Barbie Doll by Marge Piercy appear to have no tangible content. similarities. However, upon further analysis and interpretation, they can be considered somewhat similar. In these two poems, the harsh treatment of children, the use of imagery and the self-image of children in the poems are comparable. The differences between the two poems include the time period in which they were written, the characters' history, and the characters' reactions to the problems they face. Although the superficial information contained in the poems Barbie Doll and The Chimney Sweeper are easy to contrast, if one dives a little deeper, the poem Barbie Doll was written and published in 1971. Around this time, shortly after that Barbie dolls became popular. , a multitude of attention was paid to the appearance of women, young and old. Society now had an idea of ​​what it believed was considered beautiful or attractive in a woman. This could easily have caused many women, regardless of age, to feel self-conscious, much like the young girl in the poem. The Chimney Sweep was written in a completely different era. It was published in 1789, one hundred and eighty-two years before Barbie Doll. At that time, a situation like the one described in this poem was not at all uncommon. This is because child labor laws have not yet been passed in many parts of the world. Many young children were forced to accept jobs with atrocious working conditions and low wages. The difference between the periods of these two poems is crucial, because it seriously alters the characters' education, their social projection, their self-image, and the types of problems they encounter. In Barbie Doll, the young girl chooses instead to end her life. to suffer through this with a negative self-image. She “cut off his nose and his legs / and offered them” (Piercy 17-18). After she mutilates herself in an attempt to make herself beautiful, others notice and comment on the beauty of her corpse lying in the coffin. In The Chimney Sweeper, the young chimney sweep finds enough hope in religion to continue living. In a dream the boy has an “angel said to Tom, if he were a good boy he would have God for his father and would never want joy” (Blake 19-20). This gives the boy the motivation he needs to continue his life and so, when he woke up, he “was happy and warm; / [and] if [he has done his] duty, [he] need fear no harm” (Blake 23-24). The young boy decides to endure his brutal daily life so that one day he can go to paradise, where he will be happy. These two opposing approaches to dealing with the characters' misfortune are what shape both the theme and tone of the film..