03/12/2025
There’s something quietly dangerous about the urge to fix others. Marianne Moore, the poet known for her keen observations and subtle wit, saw it clearly: the drive to set people right can itself become a kind of affliction. It’s a sentiment that feels especially urgent in a world where everyone’s got an opinion on how we should behave, think, or live. Moore’s insight is a reminder that sometimes, the impulse to correct others isn’t just misguided - it’s a form of self-inflicted harm.
Marianne Moore’s poetry often wrestled with complexity and contradiction, refusing easy answers. Her work invites us to consider how our attempts to impose order on others might reflect deeper unrest within ourselves. The desire to “fix” can be a mask for discomfort with ambiguity or a way to assert control when the world feels unruly. It’s a theme that resonates beyond poetry, echoing in the work of psychoanalyst Julia Kristeva, who explored how our identities are shaped by what we reject or try to change in others. Kristeva’s theory of abjection, for instance, helps us understand how projecting flaws outward can be a defense against confronting our own vulnerabilities.
There’s also a literary kinship here with the novelist and essayist Joan Didion, whose sharp reflections on self-delusion and social expectation reveal how the need to correct others often mirrors our own fears and insecurities. Didion’s writing quietly exposes the futility of trying to control people or situations beyond our reach, suggesting that peace might come instead from acceptance.
In a culture that prizes certainty and quick judgment, Marianne Moore’s caution feels like a balm. It challenges us to sit with discomfort, to resist the temptation to impose our version of rightness on others. This isn’t about surrender but about recognizing the limits of our authority over one another. It’s a call to humility, to acknowledge that the world’s messiness isn’t always ours to tidy.
Ultimately, Marianne Moore’s perspective invites a gentler way of being with others, one that values listening over lecturing, curiosity over correction. It’s a subtle but profound shift, asking us to consider how the passion to “set people right” might keep us from the deeper work of understanding and connection. In that space, maybe there’s room for something better than fixing: a shared acceptance of our imperfect, unfolding humanity.