Comment on Duffy’s stealing
Stealing by Carol Ann Duffy is written in first person narration. The speaker indicates directly to the reader that the most unusual thing he ever stole was a snowman. The speaker describes how he did so and how thrilling it was to learn that the children would cry in the morning as a result of the theft. He also informs the readers about other things he stole, which were frequently of no use to him. He rebutted why he was acting in such a way because he was bored and sick of the world. At the end of the poem, he suggests that the reader cannot understand his outlook.
This poem is basically an informal and casual speech, in which the speaker communicates directly with the reader. As revealed from the last sentence, “You don’t understand a word I’m saying, do you?”, the speaker is addressing to the reader and requesting them to respond and be involved. Sometimes, we can even hear the real-life voice of the speaker through the use of onomatopoeia. For instance, “I sigh like this-Aah”, which appeals to the reader’s sense of hearing, making the sigh more impressive and forms9 a strong impression in the mind of the reader. The application of pauses, further demonstrates that the speaker is interacting with the reader, as in a speech, we will not be able to complete our speech in one breath, there must be pauses. Furthermore, although the poem is written in five equal stanzas, there is no regularity in the lines. Sometimes, the end of one line runs into the next line or the line may stop in the middle of the sentence. This special arrangement not only indicates the casual tone of the speaker but also points out that the behavior of the speaker was very strange and irregular.
