Literary Devices In Donald Hall's My Son, My Executioner

In the poem “My Son, My Executioner” by Donald Hall, there are several literary devices at work to help the poet convey his message to the reader. This poem explains the realization that this young couple has about their newborn son in which they are no longer living life for themselves, but for their son instead. “My Son, My Executioner” explains how the birth of a child is a major turning point in life and can be viewed as either the continuation of a legacy, or the ending of one’s life at the expense of a new life. Through the use of figurative language, the mother identifies her son as also her executioner. The author uses rhythm to accompany the mood and progression of the poem throughout each stanza. The author also uses irony by describing …show more content…
Hall compares the boy to an executioner to emphasize how demanding it is to care for a baby. The couple realizes that they are no longer immortal and that each year will bring new challenges and greater stress on their bodies, while the baby will strengthen with age and be presented with exciting opportunities. In some ways, the parents feel a sense of grief at the loss of their carefree life that they lived prior to the birth of their son. The times where they put themselves first and had no other responsibilities is now over. Now they must dedicate an overwhelming amount of time and effort to their child, which exemplifies how the child is compared to an executioner. The quote “your cries and hungers document our bodily decay” (Hall 738) shows that the parents sacrifice themselves for the happiness and health of their …show more content…
The use of irony is present throughout the entire poem, starting with the title “My Son, My Executioner”. This is ironic because a child is supposed to represent hope and new life and is instead described as a symbol of torture and death. However this is an exaggeration that Hall has made in order to show how parenting takes over one 's life completely. “Sweet death” is another example of irony in this poem because death, in most cases, is not seen as sweet or pleasant, but as a distasteful loss. The poet is really saying that death, to this couple, is a gain instead of a casualty. Even though they lose themselves, death is sweet to them because they gain the life of their child. The central theme of this poem is ironic in itself because it explains how one 's life can consequently be ended by the start of