18 pages • 36 minutes read
A Great Need
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Themes
Interdependence
The central theme of “A Great Need” is people’s interdependence. Ladinsky makes this point immediately in the first three lines of the poem: “Out / Of a great need / We are all holding hands” (Lines 1-3). Ladinsky breaks the second line at “need,” which builds suspense since the need’s exact nature remains unidentified.
The speaker then reveals that the “great need” (Line 2) resulted in the group “holding hands” (Line 3) and “climbing” (Line 4). They then say, “Not loving is a letting go” (Line 5). Since he links “holding hands” (Line 3) with “climbing” (Line 4) and also with “loving” (Line 5), Ladinsky implies that “letting go” is an interruption to community, which might impact others’ ability to climb successfully; the speaker asserts that their location makes it “Far too / Dangerous / For / That” (Lines 9-12). This assertion creates a causality between the action (of “letting go” [Line 5]) and physical danger. Lines 9 through 12 also explain the reason behind “the great need” (Line 2) to “hold hands” (Line 3): Sticking together protects them in a challenging environment.
The poem demonstrates an individual’s role in maintaining a collective, and, for Ladinsky, people move forward because they receive help and camaraderie. The poem’s subtext suggests this importance. The fifth line reveals an analogy between apathy and abandoning the travel group: “Not loving is a letting go” (Line 5). Since “letting go” (Line 5) is opposite to “holding” (Line 3) onto something, the line instantly links “holding hands” and the act of loving another person. “Not loving” (Line 5) elevates the poem into a metaphor about the stakes of giving up on other people or not caring about them. A “letting go” (Line 5) damages the chances of progress because the collective has fewer people to lend aid. The same risk applies to a lone traveler.
Needfulness, Love, and Purpose
The poem presents extensive ambiguity. Though given a physical setting, the poem offers no direct specificity beyond “terrain” (Line 7) and only indirectly characterizes those surroundings. The greatest and most central ambiguity, however, is in the very title (and second line), “A Great Need.” The “need” is even less explicit than the terrain, and it carries multiple possibilities; while this need seems to refer to the urgent endeavor that compels the speaker and the groups’ journey in the first place, the reader is never told where the group is heading or why. However, leaving this element unspoken lends emphasis to other elements, namely, the group’s interdependence and communal power, and their sense of purpose in and of itself. The enterprise’s abstract quality ensures the poem’s primary drama concerns not the destination of the “We,” but their relationship, which is implied to be loving.
This emphasis spills over into the second interpretation of “need.” The need is also that the group, the “We,” keep “holding hands” (Line 3). The image of holding hands conveys several things: interdependence, common purpose, and love. “We” (Line 3) need to “[hold] hands” (Line 3) because failure to do so is a loss of purpose and love—“a letting go” (Line 5). This feared, hypothetical loss finds implicit symbolism in the danger of a perilous and presumably steep terrain that requires teamwork to safely climb and traverse, and the traversing itself is only done out of some other unspecified need or venture. The “Great Need,” therefore, is three things: a destination, a motivating force and purpose, and the necessity of love and community for accomplishing that purpose.
Importance of Communication and Passing Down Knowledge
The poem’s use of “we” and direct commands highlights the value of sharing knowledge and advising others. “We” draws the reader into the poem’s world and makes them a character. It expresses that the speaker sees the addressee as his companion on the same journey.
The speaker then informs the addressee that they should not let go from “holding hands” (Line 3) since the terrain is treacherous. There would be no reason to tell the addressee to “[l]isten” (Line 6) about the risks of “letting go” (Line 5) if the addressee were not thinking about going off on their own. If the addressee does not know about the danger and the speaker does not tell them, they are more likely to leave the group and get hurt. Additionally, the addressee’s departure means the group has one less person for support, hindering the group. Ladinsky shows that passing down knowledge and sharing information protects people because they better understand their world, allowing them to make informed choices.
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