On Portrait of a deaf man

On Portrait of a deaf man

1. FORM AND STRUCTURE

   • Poem is written like an elegy
   • Has a strict alternate rhyming scheme which makes the narrator's thoughts seem ordered
   • Rhythm is very regular - gives the impression the narrator is trying to keep his emotions under control
   • First 7 stanzas are first person narrative about his father
   • Alternates between pleasant memories and horrible images
     • shows he can't stop thinking about death
   • Final stanza is conversation between him and God which shows death has made him question his faith

2. STORY

   • Narrator is talking about hi dead father who was deaf
   • couldn't hear his son speak or the birds sing
   • Talks about how his father uses his other senses to connect with the world
   • Interrupts descriptions of his Dad to imagine his decaying body underground
   • At the end he accuses God of treating him badly
     • Questions his faith

3. FEELINGS AND ATTITUDES

   • LOVE
     • Narrator remembers his father with affection
     • recalls his Dad's love of clothes, walks, painting and his friends
   • GRIEF
     • Poem is a tribute to his father
     • Could be the narrator coming to terms with the grief
     • Sadness is mixed with horror at the thought of his father's decaying body
   • BITTERNESS
     • In the final stanza he seems bitter about how his father suffered
     • Angrily accuses God of treating his father badly and questions his own faith

4. MY IDEAS

   • he creates silence by using imagery of things such as birds and people and then removing the noises
   • The word 'portrait' is appropriate because it can resemble an image of a person with no sound and also can be thought of as being someone who has passed away.
   • I think he died recently and this is the son's way of coming to terms with the loss and grief
   • I think they had a close relationship as the son does things such as question his faith in God which is a big thing to do and would not be done for someone who you do not necessarily have a close relationship with

5. LANGUAGE

   • CONTRAST
     • Love for his Father is contrasted with descriptions of his death
     • Links love and death in same objects like his fathers clothes
     • Suggests that death can affect our lives at any time
   • SENSES
     • Senses are important because the narrators father is defined as a deaf man in the title
     • narrator frequently mentions other senses to emphasise his father's connection with the world through other senses
   • IMAGES OF DECAY
     • Narrator uses grotesque imagery of father's decaying body to highlight reality of death
     • Images used are often quite shocking and vivid