Compare Hero by Mick Gowar and Ozymandias by Percy Bysshe Shelley.

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GCSE Coursework

GCSE Coursework

The Poems

Hero                        ~ Mick Gowar

Ozymandias         ~ Percy Bysshe Shelley

I think the major similarity between the two poems is that both Ozymandias and the ‘Hero’ both led very similar lifestyles. They both rose to the very top of their profession which was followed by a dramatic downfall.

Ozymandias’, once great, kingdom is now left to a broken statue, suggesting Ozymandias is a broken man.

The same goes for the ‘Hero’. After reaching the zenith of his career, albeit unfairly, he too had his comeuppance.

Another similarity would be that both poems are conversations. Hero is a conversation between the ‘Hero’ and a fifteen year old boy.

Ozymandias is also a conversation between two people; the narrator and a passing traveller. I know this because the poem starts with ‘I met a traveller from an antique land’.

Also the writers portray both men as not very pleasant people, both willing to sacrifice respect and decency for power. This was probably the beginning of the end for both of them. They both also come across as tactless and no nonsense.

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The ‘Hero’ tells the boy, very straight, how it was and what happened, and didn’t try to mitigate anything.

Ozymandias also showed he wasn’t a sorrowful person by enforcing strict rules upon his people.

Hero is set in a modern day nursing home, with the ‘Hero’ unwell, possibly because of the side effects the steroids have caused. The 'Hero' is conversing very openly with a fifteen year old boy, although it is a very one-sided conversation. The only time we get any input from the boy is from his ‘narration’ of the 'Hero's’ expressions and actions in the ...

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