Compare and analyse themes of loss and isolation in looking for dad and the sick equation by Brian Patten and long distance by Tony Harrison
Compare and analyse themes of loss and isolation in looking for dad and the sick equation by Brian Patten and long distance by Tony Harrison
When exploring poems it is clear to see that there are many analytical and poetic devices used to emphasise meaning and theme throughout the verses. The 3 poems that employ examples of this are 'Looking for dad' and 'The sick equation' by Brian Patten and 'Long distance' by Tony Harrison. There are many different ways to express feelings through the use of poetry and the main feature in the 3 of these poems is Loss and isolation. This relates to the poet's personal feelings and emotion towards major influences in their lives and how they have affected them in many different ways.
Brian Patten's 'The Sick Equation' explores how his parent's intense arguing and general disrespect for each other had such a damaging effect on his thoughts, personality and life. It is written as if he is between the ages of 5-16 as he refers to school,
The poet also exclaims that at this time, his parents are still living together but the house is 'full of anger and pain.' Which gives an indication of how he feels about his home life.
The poet assumes from his past experience that he can't go with anyone because his equation is 'broken'. He feels it is better being one, rather than being two and trying sort things out because it will always end it hurt or divorce as the only example he can look upon is his parents.
In verse 2, Patten describes how he pushed away anyone who wanted to love him and how he always thought that marriage would end in divorce. He has very low confidence. He would rather not be loved at all than be love by someone, only then to be rejected by them.
However, in verse 6 he has completely turned his life around and has found someone to love. In 'the sick equation' Brian Patten uses oxymoron's to explain his situation further, 'raw cocoon of parental hate', the raw makes you think of red fleshy uncovered wounds which is perhaps how he feels about the family's relationship. Cocoon however demonstrates how he is caught up in the fighting between his parents and is enclosed in the trap of love of which he cannot escape. 'I grew-or-did not grow' is a line in 'The Sick Equation' describes as he felt. The consequences of the horror he witnessed at home left him physically, a grown man, but mentally he was still a small boy.
Brian Patten isolated himself from everyone as he thought that if he were to venture into a relationship it would mirror that of his parents and end up in divorce, which meant he was very lonely
Throughout the poem, Patten expresses his anger by using strong words such as 'raw', 'hate' and 'pain'. He is angry at his parent's influence on him as it has left him a helpless man with no one to love.
Starting on line 19 Patten uses metaphors to explain how he feels about relationships 'one among the many whose dreams of flight weighed down the soul, and kept it down' 'because to the flightless the dream of flights an anguish'
Patten makes many references to flight and flying in the poem because when you think of flying, you imagine a lone person, high in the clouds. He sees flying people to be single and the flightless to be married. He makes the suggestion that married people wish to fly but their bond weighs down the soul, therefore restraining them from doing so.
He sees divorce as a punishment for getting married,
'I never let love stay long enough to take root,' is a metaphor Patten uses to express how he pushed away anyone who wanted to ...
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Patten makes many references to flight and flying in the poem because when you think of flying, you imagine a lone person, high in the clouds. He sees flying people to be single and the flightless to be married. He makes the suggestion that married people wish to fly but their bond weighs down the soul, therefore restraining them from doing so.
He sees divorce as a punishment for getting married,
'I never let love stay long enough to take root,' is a metaphor Patten uses to express how he pushed away anyone who wanted to love him. He compares this with the roots of a tree because, like love, given the chance they can run very deep and are continuously growing. They stay rooted deep within the soil, like love in the soul.
The structure of 'the sick equation' is unusual as it does not rhyme, Brian Patten may have done this as rhyme is usually used in flowing poems about light hearted things and as the poem is far past this it is quite clear to see how it wouldn't have fitted the style and structure of the poem. However, in the closing stanza, Patten uses a rhyming couplet to round off the poem. It is said in defiance towards his parents because he is saying that even though his parents put him through so much grief, he came through it all and has found his fears to be totally unjustified. Patten has successfully maintained a loving and caring relationship with someone, which he thought earlier could never be the case.
'And however late on, I am better off for knowing now. That given love, by taking love all can in time refute....'
Patten now believes that love can heal mental wounds, like it has done for him, and even though a long time has passed, and he's missed out on so much, he is better off for it. By the end of the poem Brian Patten no longer feels isolated from his family and friends and feels unjust as he has endured many years of living in isolation from his experiences and when he eventually does grow up he is set free and is thankful.
Brian Patten has created a very moving poem and his use of language, metaphors and oxymorons to further emphasise the emotions and feelings he went through as a child really add to the emotional affect of the poem and how it is presented.
Tony Harrison in 'long distance' writes about how loving his parents were and how his father still loved his deceased mother and did things he would have done if she were still alive.
Verse one gives details of what the father did/does for his wife. This shows what a loving relationship they had as he was doing things to make her life more comfortable because he loved and cared about her which would make it harder for him to accept it if anything ever happened to her.
Stanzas two and three say how ashamed he feels about what he is doing and how the only way for his grief to end is for her to return to him. It's almost as if he feels his love for her is a crime that needs to be concealed from anyone who might disapprove. He can't risk anyone knowing about his actions and telling him that she is dead because it would make it so much harder for him to cope.
The theme of 'Long distance' is based around loss and the isolation of Harrison's father as he has to cope with the loss of his wife and then Harrison has to deal with the death of both his parents.
In 'The Sick Equation', there is a loss of love and affection between Pattens's parents so, in reality, they don't really have much of a relationship. The poets mentioned both choose to use the word raw. Patten uses the word in the line 'raw cocoon of parental hate' while Harrison uses it in 'still raw love'
When you think of 'raw' you imagine a red, fleshy wound, which brings lots of pain. This could be how Harrison's father felt at losing his wife and how Patten felt growing up.
. Raw is a very powerful word and in both poems is used successfully
Harrison described his parents' relationship and how much his father missed his wife when she passed away. '...Still raw love' is a useful insight into the sort of relationship Harrison's shared together which you can tell from this line alone was still going strong. It illustrates how attached the poet's parents were in life and death. You feel overwhelming sympathy for Harrison's father who seems to be in a state of denial because he can't seem to accept his wife's death. You can tell this as he is still doing all the everyday things like 'warming her slippers by the gas' and 'renewing her transport pass', which he did for the many years that they were married.
'I believe that life ends with death and that is all'. This is a line from 'Long Distance', which shows that Harrison, is a blunt, non-religious man. He does not believe in life after death so therefore does not consider the fact that his mother may still be in heaven or have anything to do with him, if only in spirit. 'He couldn't risk my blight of disbelief' shows that he condemns his father for his actions and for trying to keep his mothers spirit alive. But in the last stanza, we find that Harrison is no different to his father.
'You haven't both gone shopping; just the same,
in my new black leather phone book there's your name
and the disconnected number I still call.'
There are two words that show that Harrison is a complete copy of his father. 'New' and 'disconnected'. The reader now discovers that Harrison's father has passed away as well. However, instead of accepting it like he told his father to, he finds that he too cannot let go that easily. He still puts his parents' number in his new phone book and still rings the number even though it has been disconnected. Disconnected also describes the relationship Harrison now has with his parents. They are not a phone call or a car journey away; they are now permanently disconnected from his life. They are in a place where he cannot reach them. The rhyme scheme in 'Long Distance' is in ABAB style until the end verse in which it changes to ABBA. Harrison may have done this as in this part of the poem he is talking about his personal life whereas before he is explaining the way his farther felt, the change in rhyme scheme signals a change in theme and context therefore a good way to reflect the change.
Tony Harrison creates an almost moving poem in the way he describes the heartbreak of his father and the way in which he dealt with the death. He almost mocks his father in the way he deals with death only to explain in the last verse that he himself does much the same. This creates an interesting and thoughtful way in which Tony Harrison creates the feeling of loss and isolation between him and his parents and his father and mother.
The third poem is 'Looking for dad' By Brian Patten. In this poem Brian Patten once again talks about his childhood and the way in which he feels responsible for the divorce of his parents.
The way in which Patten has written 'looking for dad' is trying to give the impression that he is the child writing it. The ways in which he has employed to do this is the use of many pronouns and ways in which a child would talk 'toy cars' 'mars bars'. He uses these methods as when a child is very young they are selfish and always think of themselves before others, the way in which the word 'I' is used in the poem reflects this unorthodox way in which a child would speak and how they are always thinking of themselves. The way in which Patten uses the 'child speak' to get his message across is very effective as it gives an insight into a child's life and what they focus on most which is toys and food, 'old robots' 'lots and lots' 'things'.
The poem starts with Patten explaining how he gets told off for having an untidy room; this is the main focus at the start of the poem as his family life is seen to be normal. This soon deteriorates as out of the blue the child notices that his parents have began to focus on shouting at each other and not him ' then one day they could not care less, about my rooms awful mess'.
The next part describes how his father has finally left and the loss that he feels for him 'then one night when I went to bed he simply vanished'. This shows the immaturity of the child as he does not know where his father has gone and doesn't realise the state of which the family is in. The way in which Patten has used parenthesis in 'looking for dad' shows how the child is dwelling on the loss of his father and finds it hard to come to terms with the fact that he has lost his father (Ten past seven, tenth of June).
The final line of the poem shows how he has not forgotten about his dad and is still wishing for his return after a period of over two weeks '(it is now the twenty-ninth of June)'. Nearing the end of the poem the child realises the reality of the situation and for how so long he thought that his parents were unhappy because of his room when in fact they were actually feuding over each other. The way in which 'Looking for dad' ties in with 'The sick equation' is quite unique as they both focus on Brian Pattens 'lost' childhood and how his parents affected the way in which he has turned out, through a variety of experiences during his early childhood years right through adolescence. The final way in which Patten describes the naivety of himself as a child is when he explains that he has tidied his room as he believes that it was the cause of his fathers departure, 'Hope he will come back soon and admire my very tidy room', once again this shows how he has misinterpreted the situation. The way he refers to the start of the poem 'TIDY UP YOUR ROOM' so now he has done this he feels it will form the basis of his fathers return.
In 'Looking for dad' there is no significant rhyme scheme although the poem does flow quite easily when read to create the child's view. It has no verse breaks as it is 1 continuous verse which once more creates the child's perspective as when they speak they often don't stop to catch breath and this is what Brain Patten has tried to imitate in this form.
From comparing the 3 poems 'Looking for dad' 'The sick equation' and 'Long distance' it is clear to see how in their own unique ways they have captured and portrayed the feelings of loss and isolation in meaningful and clever manners. 'Looking for dad' and 'the sick equation' are both very similar poems as they are based around the same author and his own personal experiences. 'Long distance' however still portrays these views just over a longer timespan and with more a feeling of loss of his parents rather than Brian Pattens childhood of family feuding. The poets are extremely similar in the ways that they put their point across and there are even replicated words 'raw love' 'raw cocoon' which shows similar styles of writing. I believe that the way in which both poets captured their feelings and emotions throughout the poems made them very enjoyable to read as well as transferring their point across accurately to the reader. It is unclouded as to the mixed upbringing of the poets and the way in which they both had experiences of loss and isolation each in their own unique and powerful way.
