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The Red Wheelbarrow

The speaker invests the red wheelbarrow with a great deal of significance, though it isn’t immediately clear why. All we know is that the speaker says, “so much depends / upon / a red wheel / barrow” (lines 1–4). One possible reading of the red wheelbarrow’s significance relates to its usefulness for building and farming. Wheelbarrows can be used to convey construction materials, soil, and organic waste, among other things. If so much does indeed depend upon a red wheelbarrow, it might be because the types of labor the wheelbarrow symbolizes are necessary for the establishment and maintenance of civilization: namely, infrastructure and agriculture. That said, the speaker’s emotional response to the red wheelbarrow may suggest a more personal relationship. Perhaps this particular red wheelbarrow is something they used while gardening with their parents as a child. Or maybe it’s actually a toy that they played with long ago. Since we don’t have any further information, all we can do is speculate. What’s clear, however, is that the red wheelbarrow is very meaningful to the speaker. In this way, the wheelbarrow might even be said to symbolize meaningfulness itself.

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