Powerlessness In The Poem Hide And Seek

In the poem Hide and Seek, the poet explores the power of the child’s arrogance, as he believes he is clever and therefore powerful. For instance, when he says the people searching for him must ‘think’ he is ‘very clever’, as well as describing them as ‘puzzled’. The word ‘clever’ demonstrates his self-confidence in his intelligence and he thinks he is one step ahead of them, which leads him to believe he has obtained power over them. However, this is thus contradicted later on, as he is then left alone, deserted. This is shown by the rhetorical question the poet poses at the end: ‘But where are they who sought you?’ The word ‘but’ reflects the child’s uncertainty, finally bringing him to the conclusion that he is in fact powerless. Another …show more content…
The teacher demonstrates the theme of power punitively; as she tells him he ‘must stay in the room till half-past two’. The word ‘must’ is used to emphasize it is an order and he must obey it, showing his powerlessness towards the teacher. The child’s powerlessness is further emphasized throughout the poem when his abstract knowledge of time is brought to the reader’s attention, as the child personifies the clock as to having ‘little eyes’ and ‘two long legs’. He also says he ‘knew a lot of times’, but ‘not half-past two’. This point exposes the unfairness of the teacher’s abuse of power, as well as reflecting upon the child’s innocence. However, later on in the poem, this point is contradicted as he is said to have ‘escaped’ into the ‘clockless land for ever’, the use of ‘escaped’ shows he has obtained freedom due to his powerlessness, and thus achieved power over his actions and imagination. The poet uses enjambment to flow from one stanza into the next to describe the child’s imagination of the world he’s escaped into, and repeats the phrase ‘into’. The repetition of this phrase emphasizes that he has escaped into a completely different place, created by his imagination due to his newfound …show more content…
It is shown by the mother’s lack of ability to help her child, as he is described as ‘her tenderness for a son’ that she will ‘soon’ have to ‘forget’. This foreshadows the inevitability of his death and shows the difficulty of the position his mother is in, having to helplessly watch her own son perish. This also further foreshadowed later on in the poem. Such as when the poet describes the mother’s actions towards her child: he says she is ‘combing’ the ‘hair left on his skull’. The word ‘skull’ is used as a representation of death and mortality, it displays the rapidity of his hair loss and emphasises the dangers of his starvation and protein deficiency. However the word ‘combing’ is used to show the mother’s unconditional love for her child and how she will always care for him and never give up hope, this brings an element of power to the poem, and demonstrates the powerful effect of a mother’s love towards her child. The mother’s undying love and care for her child is also exhibited when the poet describes her as bathing her child, and ‘rubbing him down’ with her ‘bare palms’. The end of the poem contradicts this moment of hope by ending on an extremely solemn tone, with the use of the simile ‘she did it like putting flowers on a tiny grave’. The poet describes her repetition of normal everyday actions as to make it seem like nothing is wrong and there