Hide seek poem analysis Essay Example

Hide seek poem analysis Essay The poems first two lines are very childlike and give the impression of an innocent game of hide and seek. The alliteration of the s sound in line two sets a seaside scene. Line three, however, plants a seed of doubt in my mind. The phrase salty dark is a little suspect and shady, it makes me think that something isnt perhaps as it first seems. The next line reads But be careful that your feet arent sticking out, this line returns to a jovial and childlike tone once again. It forms a perfect rhyming couplet with the next line Wiser not to make another shout. The floor is cold, this touches once again on the more ominous feel of the verse, but again, the cheerful pitch of the poem returns with Whatever happens you mustnt sneeze. Then the line continues When they come prowling in prowling is a rather sombre choice of word and once again the doubt is back.. And there they are, whispering at the door, Youve never heard them so hushed before. Dont breathe. Dont move. Stay dumb. Hide in your blindness. Theyre moving closer, someone stutters, mutters. Their words and laughter scuffle; and theyre gone. These few lines are very dramatic and assure us that there is definitely something foreboding with this seemingly usual game of hide and seek that opened the poem. Vernon Scannett uses several short, punchy sentences for impact and they make the poem sound panicked and very tense. It is now as though the person is desperately hiding from an enemy rather than just playing a game with peers. It is as though the person has suddenly realised something about the people who are looking for him. The next lines are as if the person is trying to reassure himself that everything is going to be fine. We will write a custom essay sample on Hide seek poem analysis specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Hide seek poem analysis specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Hide seek poem analysis specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer It seems a long time since they went away. Your legs are stiff, the cold bites through your coat. The dark damp smell of sand moves in your throat. These three lines are particularly chilling and quite disturbing. The reference to stiff legs conjures up a corpse-like picture in my mind. The phrase about cold biting through the coat is menacing and sets a dark scene. The choking imagery is also very unpleasant, and portrays an image of death. Its time to let them know you are the winner. Push off the sacks. Uncurl and stretch. Thats better. This, to me sounds like a last ditch attempt to stay positive and convince oneself that everything will be fine. The darkening garden watches. Nothing stirs. The bushes hold their breath; the sun is gone. Yes, here you are. But where are they who sought you? The poem opened with an instruction Call out and ends with a question But where are those who sought you? This demonstrates very well how the tone was incredibly certain and positive at the beginning. However the confidence gradually fades away as the realisation of abandonment occurs, and the poem ends on a note of intense fear and anxiety. The poem is obviously not merely about a childhood game but has a deeper and more symbolic meaning. It could, for example, be interpreted as being about life in a Godless universe. The child is a Christian and believes that God will always be with them. God will find them, like the story of the lost sheep, wherever they go or hide. The child in the poem could symbolise a Christian, convinced and confident of being found, no matter where he is. Then doubt creeps in and realisation occurs, e.g. And there they are: whispering at the door; Youve never heard them so hushed before. From this point forward the seeker is portrayed as the enemy. The setting of the poem now changes to a dark, cold and unpleasant place to be as solitude sets in. For the child this place is the tool shed, but for the Christian it could be the world without God governing it. The darkening garden watches. Nothing stirs. The bushes hold their breath; the sun is gone. These two lines support my theory; the garden is relevant to Christianity, because of the garden of Eden. Also the sun is gone could have a parallel meaning Jesus, the son of God is gone from the Christians life. Perhaps the message of the poem is that we cannot hide from God and expect him to find us. In order to be a true Christian, we must fully embrace God into our lives, not renounce him. Only if we actively seek and welcome God into our lives will we be assured a life of contentment, free from the fear of solitude.

How does Haddon use colour to the tell story in Curious Incident of the dog in the night-time Essay Example

How does Haddon use colour to the tell story in Curious Incident of the dog in the night How does Haddon use colour to the tell story in Curious Incident of the dog in the night-time Essay How does Haddon use colour to the tell story in Curious Incident of the dog in the night-time Essay The curious incident of the dog in the nighttime, tells the story through the perspective of Christopher, a character with Aspergers syndrome. Part of Christophers condition is that he does not understand linguistic techniques such as a metaphors; he does not understand the emotional connotations behind descriptions that you would find in texts such as poetry. Thus through his narrative you would expect the story to be simple descriptions with no symbolism. However the use of colour, does create a mood, which the reader can interpret even if Christopher does not when he reports what he has seen. For example at the beginning of the story, Christopher opens with describing when he found the dead dog. He describes the dog as being pale yellow like chicken. Whilst Christopher is merely making a comparison between the colour of the dog and the chicken, Haddon cleverly creates a mood. The reader would be able to associate yellow with disease. Thus through use of colour Haddon creates imagery, which the reader can interpret, but which also Christopher can report as it is factual unlike a metaphor. The descriptions of colour not only create a mood throughout the story but also allow us to form some sort of judgement or have insight in to the other characters. For example whilst Christopher merely observes Mrs Shears wearing pink nail varnish as readers without AS we can interpret that Mrs Shears is feminine and perhaps vain. Similarly, Siobhan is described as wearing green glasses, which creates the impression of her being lively, and slightly non-conformist. The contrast of characters helps demonstrate the diversity of the different characters without Christopher making a judgement of them himself. Another element of Christophers condition is that he likes everything to be ordered, and colours are one way in which he likes ordering things. For example he dislikes the colour yellow and likes the colour red. Colour continually recurs in the descriptions of the food he eats. Thus helps maintain the impression of order, and the continuity of Christophers character. Continually through each chapter, no matter the events preceding, Christopher routinely describes the food he eats for his three meals a day. This helps not present Christophers like for order but represents how he remains detached and cool; no matter the circumstances he does not become emotionally involved. For example after discovering your dad has lied about your mother, Christopher clearly goes through emotional trauma demonstrated by his vomiting he still remembers exactly what food he packs in his lunch box. Others without As in such circumstances would not be thinking logically in the same way as Christopher as w e would be too distracted. Here colour demonstrates that this order is part of Christophers very being and his daily life. It also, like the chapters throughout the stories, links the events happening in Christophers life to Christophers condition. Interestingly, whilst the mention of colours is resembled throughout, Christophers attitude to them changes. Whilst, at the beginning there is a continual report of the good Christopher eats, towards the end Christopher is forced to wear for example yellow shorts. This technique cleverly symbolises how before Christophers world was ordered but has now been turned upside down; He is wearing yellow shorts where before having to wear yellow shorts would have been a huge issue. This symbolism is similar to when Christophers father bangs the table and Christophers food, clearly defined colours mixes. The emphasise that colours play a huge part in also symbolising other developments in the story. As already stated colour clearly plays an important part in Christophers life; throughout the story many of the progressing decisions Christopher makes are based on his good days and bad days. Good days are whenever Christopher sees more than three cars than red, bad days are when he sees yellow cars. He states Because it was a good day I decided I would try and who killed Wellington . The decision to investigate who killed Wellington seems dependant on the colour of a car which seems ludicrous. Yet it creates interest because it allows Christopher to break out his boring mundane life and constantly reminds the reader of Christophers condition. Overall colours allow Christopher to express his emotions. Part of his AS condition is that does understand the complexity of human emotions nor does he like them; He likes everything to be rooted to factual evidence thus explaining his like for colours which are empirical information. However, demonstrated throughout the play he does not lack the ability to feel emotions. For example when he believes his mother to be in hospital, he colours red cars on a card to make it a super super happy day for her. Whilst he does explain or possibly understand feeling of compassion or care for his mother, the fact that he paints her something which associated with happiness demonstrates he does possess these feelings. Thus is makes the reader feel sympathy and empathy with and also engages our interest in to his character and condition. Furthermore, the reiterating themes of colours not only convey structure of our life but generally allows us to know how Christopher. The colours create imagery like they would in a normal novel. For example, we know that when Christopher describes himself going home and eating broccoli it creates the atmosphere of relaxation, it is something which Christopher enjoys even thought Christopher himself does not state I feel relaxed I feel happy. So overall colours play an important part in the story. They constantly remind us of how Christopher perceives the world and allow us to experience in a structured manner the way he does. However they also allow an atmosphere to be created whilst it is not intentional through Christophers. They also portray the structure of Christophers life when he is reasonably content to when like his system for colours, his life is no longer organised or the transgression from christophers life of normality until after finding the dog (typical in all novels). They also allow us insight in to Christophers own emotions that he himself cannot intentionally communicate due to his condition and colours we associated with Christophers happiness create an atmosphere.