The many perspectives of success

 In digging, the author emphasizes the many things different within him and his family. In the poem, we quickly learn that his father and grandfather are farmers while he is a writer. Heaney contrasts this within the second sentence as he states "the squat pen rests; snug like a gun"(2) and follows up with "when the spade sinks into the gravelly ground: my father digging"(4). We see the contrast in the way of living as the actions and objects in hands differ. These contrasts can connect with the theme of success as his family and he both have different views of success. Heaney's family are farmers and we can infer that success to them is hard work as the poem states "My grandfather cut more turf in a day than any other man on toner's bag". His grandfather cutting turf showcases his hard work and his success as he becomes known for cutting the most turf. To Heaney success involves writing, he creates his own pursuits as he states "But I've no spade to follow men like them, between my finger and my thumb the squat pen rests"(28,30). Heaney already has a success story written for him that included farming, but it's not fulfilling because success is not a one-size-fits-all concept. There are many different forms of accomplishments that others will want to pursue and this poem enhances this idea.