I particularly liked this poem because I really liked the way the author used the metaphor of a tub as a symbol of the lives that many people lead.  He describes the lives of many as egotistical, self-centered, and ignorant of anything outside of their “tub”, which they fill with rules and taboos and appearances.  He asks the reader to realize the vastness of the world outside of their tub, and to look beyond the rim and break away from the pointless lives that so many live.  When I first read this poem I thought about why the author chose to use a tub as a symbol for a life lived for oneself.  After a while I realized how this is a perfect symbol because of the silence and relative comfort of a tub, but also because after staying in a tub for a while you end up sitting in your own filth, as those who live for themselves have lives cluttered with unnecessary details and is deaf to the world once submerged.  I think that it is very important to think about the things you do and why you do them or it becomes easy to fall into this trap.  I think that this poem is very similar to many works of American literature in that it asks the reader to question their lifestyle, and reflect upon themselves.