An Analysis Of Stealing And The Planned Child By Sharon Olds

“Stealing” by Carol Ann Duffy and “The Planned Child” by Sharon Olds both explore themes of issues in our modern world using similar poetic devices, as well as contrasting devices. “Stealing” describes a thief explaining how he stole a snowman, and what has led him to commit crimes. “The Planned Child” is about a child who hated the fact that she was planned, but realises that her mother loves her anyway. The tone and mood of the two poems are unlike and each conveys the poem’s themes uniquely. Diction and imagery are very similar, as well as its use to develop the character or storyline. Structure and form are the two devices which are applied most similarly.

Tone and mood differ between Olds’ and Duffy’s poems. “Stealing” uses a frustrated …show more content…
Ann Duffy’s use of diction influences the roller coaster of emotions that are communicated. She uses hard and irate diction, such as “children would cry” and “piercing my gut”, to emphasise the thief’s frustration over his terrible life. The diction later transfers to very soft and melancholy diction, using words such as “sick of the world”, to portray his loneliness and lack of purpose. The change in diction links to the change in tone, showing the thief’s mental instability, as well as the thief’s sudden understanding that his sorrowful attempts of fulfilment are affecting society. Much like Duffy, Olds uses angry and hard diction to convey “The Planned Child’s” themes. Olds uses words such as “haste” and “mistake” to evoke the infuriated and resentful tone directed at the character’s mother. Like “Stealing”, “The Planned Child” has also changed from hard to soft diction. Words such as “sea” and “without me” are used to show the character’s change in attitude towards her mother. Both poets use fierce and vivid imagery to make the contents of the poem as clear as possible. Duffy uses phrases such as the snowman was “hugged to my chest” and “fierce chill”, to establish a clear picture of the scenario. Vivid imagery is displayed especially when describing the snowman as a “tall white mute, beneath the winter moon”. Olds uses expressions such as “conceived in heat” and “valved wall in my mother’s body” to induce fierce imagery, this shows the child’s frustration towards her mother in a clear way. Aside from fiery diction Duffy uses symbolism and Olds uses a metaphor to further create a picture of the poem. Duffy uses symbolism through a snowman to express that the thief should not steal to replace the void that unemployment and loneliness has left, Duffy does this by describing that the snowman did not reassemble properly after the thief stole. Olds’ metaphor “as if sliding the backbone up out of his body” is