Also, with the use of the words “Slut. Slut”, the reader is learning how this man talks to and refers to women.
In the next stanza, there is a change. Rather than talk about the woman, the jogger begins to talk, or even brag, about himself. You can see this man has an ego the size of Russia and is very big headed: “got a good body. Slim. Go to the gym. Keep in trim.”
With his next statement, “Girls like a man wiv a good body, Strong arms, tight arse”, he is once again making assumptions. He is assuming that girls and women simply look for a good body in a man, perhaps suggesting they are too shallow to look for anything else. Again his prejudiced views are clear.
His next line “right tart she was” is in my opinion hypocritical and shows he has double standards. He is saying women cannot dress up and make themselves attractive, yet in the previous stanza, he went on about how he looks good, has a great body and that that’s what women go for.
Again he calls the woman a slut and refers to her as pissed. Every-time he refers to her, he uses derogatory and degrading words. His language is coarse and unpleasant and somewhat aggressive. It is interesting how he is using such language to describe somebody he doesn’t even know and how despite the fact he makes out he is good person who “keeps his head clear”; by using such language he is actually degrading himself and lowering the standards.
Something I have noticed throughout the poem is that he refers to females as “girls”, rather than “women”. I think this may be because he thinks females are below him, less significant and perhaps objects. The woman in this poem was 35, hardly a girl. There is also something slightly perverse about how he refers to females as girls, perhaps suggesting he likes younger women.
In the next stanza, he is again praising himself, making it sound as though he is near perfect and knows “how it should be”.
I find it interesting how he says “no fear”. I think that fear is exactly what anyone would feel with a man like this around.
When he says “like to know what I’m doin, who I’m screwin”, his double standards show again. Also in my opinion he sounds perhaps like a male tart himself, who gets around a bit. I think this because a grown man shouldn’t be “screwin” more than one person anyway. Although perhaps because of his foul attitudes and opinions, he cannot keep one woman and therefore has been with many.
Another example of both double standards and arrogance is how he refers to the woman with an array of degrading and foul words such as “slut”, yet when he uses the word “screwin” to describe himself, he adds the comment “excuse language”.
When he says “baggage. Half dressed, couldn’t care less. Pissed”, you again see his terrible attitude. The poet is constantly reinforcing the reader’s initial impressions.
He has made assumptions about why she is half dressed and hasn’t thought around what he is seeing. This suggests he is either pretty stupid, or that perhaps he didn’t actually want to consider that she had been raped because he wanted to do the same thing himself, and if he viewed her as “half dressed”, “pissed”, and a “slut”, it would be a sufficient excuse for him to rape her, and that he could make out she was asking for it.
The very fact that he thought she was pissed shows how he wanted to have sex with her and is completely inconsiderate. Any man with any decency would not attempt to have sex with any girl or woman who was not in total control of them selves and under the influence of alcohol and possibly drugs.
The next stanza basically reinforces all of the reader’s opinions so far. It reinforces his assumptions, “crawlin around, beggin for it”, and his stereotypical views, “nice girls don’t”, which shows how he puts women in two groups.
It reinforces his ignorance and inconsiderate attitudes, “at night, after dark, on her own, in a park?” and this also shows how he is too stupid to think around what he is seeing.
“Well do me a favour” again reinforces how he thinks he is a better person, that he is above her. There is also a slightly mocking tone to the comment, and it sounds defensive.
The final three lines just about sum it all up. By this point the poet as built up the image of a man who is filled with prejudices, assumptions, has a huge ego (or is being defensive), is hypocritical, has double standards & appalling attitudes toward the opposite sex, and is ignorant and praises only himself.
He fails to consider that the reason she didn’t scream is because she was in shock, feared this man would do more if she shouted for attention or had even given up trying to resist him.
There is a somewhat mocking tone to the last sentence, and it is as though he is trying to make her look stupid and say that if she wasn’t enjoying it she would’ve screamed.
By now the reader has a somewhat disturbing image of a man with questionable motives behind an act of indecent assault.
Throughout the poem the poet missed out the letter G on the end of all “ing” words. So “screwing” became “screwin”. I think this was done to change the tone, and also make the jogger sound as though he speaks poor English. Also the poet uses very short staccato sentences, some with just one or two words, to demonstrate that maybe the jogger is incapable of constructing complex sentences. Also the poet often uses reiteration for impact and emphasis, which makes the unpleasantness stronger. I.E. “Slut. Slut.” And “fit. Keep myself fit.”
There is also the use of rhyming throughout the poem and I think that this adds pace to the poem, to give the reader the idea that the Jogger is both thinking and talking fast, perhaps panicking. This also gives the reader the idea that perhaps the jogger is just putting on a front and that underneath the boasting and bragging, there is an insecure man who knows he has done wrong and is trying to make an excuse for his actions.