Objectives: March 17, 2020
We break from the theme of nature to talk about social issues of men being marginalized
watch this tutorial of the analysis.
2. Read notes for study
SUMMARY
The persona in this poem is telling the story of a mother who loved her
son. The mother became aware of the child’s presence when she experienced
morning sickness. She placed all her hopes in the child and raised him as a
single parent because his father was indifferent to the child’s existence. The
mother had set no barriers on what the child could become, but is told that he
has an employer who values him so much that he is given his own submarine gun.
The son tells his mother that his employer is like a father to him, but
the mother wonders at the father figure who purposefully endangers his child.
She prepares for her son’s death by going downtown to buy funeral apparel. The
mother feels powerless, so she prays for her child and says protective psalms
for him. On the other hand, she reads psalms of retribution for the employer
and weeps for her son. Her situation does not look good and is likened to a partner
system in which she draws both the first and the last hand.
LITERARY DEVICES
1. SIMILE
Lines 1-2: The persona emphasizes that the mother placed all her hopes
in her son. When you are poor, generally, you have no prospects, you only dream
and hope. Therefore, the persona uses this metaphor to emphasize the mother’s
dependence on her son’s success.
Line 17: The employer is being compared to a father figure. This implies
that this person fills a gap in the son’s life.
2. SARCASM
The persona appears to praise the child’s father by referring to him as
‘fair-minded’. She is, however, chastising him for not only ignoring his son,
but all of his other children.
3. IRONY (situational)
The son innocently tells his mother that his employer values him so much
that he gave him a whole submachine gun for himself. The irony in this
situation is that if you really care about someone, you do NOT give them a gun
due to the negative results that are bound to occur.
4. ALLUSION (biblical)
Lines 28-29: This line alludes to a particular verse in the Christian
Bible, Luke 11 vs 11. The verse questions what the actions of a good father
should be.
Lines 38-39: Psalms is a particular chapter in the Christian Bible. In
this chapter there are verses for protection, the mother uses those for her
son, as well as verses for retribution and rebuking. It is implied that the
mother chooses those for the employer.
Lines 43-45: In the Christian Bible, Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus.
Therefore, it does not bode well for the mother if she is in a ‘partnership’
with this person’s mother because she might also be betrayed. The banker in the
‘partnership’ also happens to be the thief on the left hand side of the cross’
mother. This also does not bode well for the mother if the apple doesnot fall
far from the tree.
Line 49: Absalom is the son of David, in the Christian Bible. Absalom
betrayed his father, which implies that the mother feels betrayed by her son
because she has placed all her hopes in him.
IMPORTANT WORDS/ PHRASES
5. ‘a need to cry for little reasons and a metallic tide rising in her
mouth each morning.’
These two symptoms are early signs of pregnancy. The metallic tide
refers to vomiting. These signs usually occur in the first trimester of
pregnancy.
6. ‘full term’
This means that the mother carried her son for the full nine months that
a pregnancy should last.
7. ‘tight up under her heart’
This hints at the love that the mother harbours for her child. He was
not simply ‘close to her heart’, but ‘tight up’ under it. It implies that the
son holds a special place in her heart.
8. ‘set no ceiling’
A ceiling is something that blocks you in, you cannot get past it. The
mother set no limits on her son, he could be anything he wanted to be.
9. ‘his bloody salary’
This implies that the mother believes that the result of the son’s ‘job’
will be death.
10. ‘the level of earth’
The mother has no power to change her son’s situation. Earth is used to
emphasize her powerlessness on this level, the realm of ‘reality’.
11. ‘knee city’
This refers to the fact that the mother constantly prayed for her child.
12. ‘eye water covers you’
This implies that the mother cried constantly for the plight of her son.
The fact that it ‘covers him’ speaks to the high quantity of tears that were
shed.
13. ‘partner’
This is an informal saving scheme set up with a specific number of
individuals for the duration of a specific time span. Each person agrees to pay
a designated figure on a monthly basis. The ‘draws’ are decided, meaning who
gets the money first, second, third etc, on a monthly basis.The banker then
collects the money and gives the monthly pool to the person who is to receive
their ‘draw’. Therefore, a ‘partnership’ is dependent upon the honesty of the
banker, who could abscond with the money, as well as the honesty of the members
of the savings scheme, who could decide NOT to pay after they have received
their draw.
14. ‘banker’
The banker, or financial controller, of this partnership is the mother
of a thief. This does not bode well for the mother if the thief on the cross
learnt it from his mother.
15. ‘her draw though is first and last for she still throwing two hands as
mother and father’.
This statement implies that though the mother has the advantage of first
draw as mother, she loses that advantage because she also has the role of
father. Mothers cannot father sons. The fact that the son has found a father
figure proves this to be true. Therefore, she has the last draw, which carries
with it the disadvantage of not receiving a full ‘draw’. The longer one waits
for a draw is the more likely that dishonesty will come into play on the part
of the participants.
MOOD/ ATMOSPHERE
The mood of the poem is reflective. The persona is thinking about a
mother’s response to her son’s life choices.
TONE
The tone of the poem is pragmatic and pessimistic. The persona is
telling the tale as it is, with no positive energy.
THEMATIC CATEGORY
Death, love/love and family relationship, survival, dreams and
aspirations, childhood experiences, religion
Questions:
Each student should post two questions please
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