Jennifer Strauss, Les Murray and Elizabeth Riddell explore the similar idea of loss of innocence. Strauss expresses concern for her son, whom has lost his innocence to his own anger and depression, through various contrasts. In the opening stanza she describes her son as ‘weightless of cause or consequence,’ which highlights the innocence of her son, unburdened by responsibility. Specifically, the term ‘weightless’ is used as an analogy to compare her son to the likes of Armstrong. This image is once again revisited in the final stanza, only the tone is darker; ‘his clumsy steps/ walking a landscape stranger than the moon,’ communicates that her son is now weighted by the burden of society and the world. This idea is reinforced as Strauss
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Goodfellow begins recounting his past by alluding to the ‘Bill Bennet docodrama: A Street to Die.’ The documentary forces him to reflect upon his own childhood, notably, the relationship with his father, an alcoholic war veteran. Furthermore, the inclusion of the metaphor, ‘it was a mirror to my childhood,’ describes how the documentary was a reflection of the severity of his home life. He goes on to highlight the violent actions of his father through detailed literal description and …show more content…
Murray uses the metaphor of living permanently ‘in funeral’ to describe his perpetual state of mourning. The early loss of his mother tainted his outlook on the world as he describes figuratively that he ‘learned things sidelong.’ This line suggests that he was considered an outsider, and held a more ominous view of society. Similarly, he writes that he ‘soldiered back each Monday to that dawning teen age.’ The deliberate punning of the word ‘teenage’ emphasises his queerness and the struggle with his own identity, which is partially a consequence of his subject to bullying and home life. As a last remark, Murray adds that people were ‘spared from seeing what my school did to the world.’ He reflects upon his negative experiences of school as the reason he later endured depression. Strauss, Murray and Riddell use their poems to express how the influences of society eventually deprive children of their
Goodfellow begins recounting his past by alluding to the ‘Bill Bennet docodrama: A Street to Die.’ The documentary forces him to reflect upon his own childhood, notably, the relationship with his father, an alcoholic war veteran. Furthermore, the inclusion of the metaphor, ‘it was a mirror to my childhood,’ describes how the documentary was a reflection of the severity of his home life. He goes on to highlight the violent actions of his father through detailed literal description and …show more content…
Murray uses the metaphor of living permanently ‘in funeral’ to describe his perpetual state of mourning. The early loss of his mother tainted his outlook on the world as he describes figuratively that he ‘learned things sidelong.’ This line suggests that he was considered an outsider, and held a more ominous view of society. Similarly, he writes that he ‘soldiered back each Monday to that dawning teen age.’ The deliberate punning of the word ‘teenage’ emphasises his queerness and the struggle with his own identity, which is partially a consequence of his subject to bullying and home life. As a last remark, Murray adds that people were ‘spared from seeing what my school did to the world.’ He reflects upon his negative experiences of school as the reason he later endured depression. Strauss, Murray and Riddell use their poems to express how the influences of society eventually deprive children of their