"All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace" by Richard Brautigan

In his poem, “All Watched Over by Machines of Loving Grace,” Richard Brautigan leaves the reader with an open-ended message on his view of technology. First, it could be interpreted as having an anti-technology tone and message. This can be seen through his use of subtleties. Brautigan opens the poem with, “I like to think (and/the sooner the better!)” (line 1-2). His use of parentheses gives the reader the idea of the phrase to be an internal side mark from the speaker, as if he was not actually saying it, but rather thinking it. The use of parentheses is seen again when Brautigan writes, “I like to think/(right now, please!)” (line 9-10). By this time, the use of parentheses by Brautigan gives the reader a sense of tonal sarcasm. This parenthetical text demonstrates the idea that society is so dependent on technology that people need instant answers from it in order to think.

Another interpretation could leave the reader thinking that Brautigan had a pro-technology tone and message. This interpretation can be seen through his diction and word choice. Throughout the poem, Brautigan uses terms such as, “cybernetic meadow” (line 3), “programming harmony” (line 6), and “machines of loving grace” (line 25). These terms all have natural and positive connotations to them. Brautigan’s choice to use diction of natural beauty can lead the reader to believe that technology should be a natural thing that society should embrace for mankind’s benefit.

I believe the first interpretation of Richard Brautigan’s poem is more convincing. Through his tone of sarcasm created by subtleties, his message is that technology really is an unnatural thing that humans rely on far more than we should be. His use of parentheses creates a tone of sarcasm to the reader, which makes the natural and positive word choice seem all in a tone of sarcasm as well. It reads in a tone that is mocking the idea of a cyber world rather than promoting it. Although his description, “a cybernetic meadow/where mammals and computers/live together in mutually/programming harmony” (line 3-6), may seem like a convincing pro-technology argument, his sarcastic tone created by parentheses leads the reader to realize how unnatural a situation like this could be.