Compare the Ways that Poets Write About Violence in at least four of the Poems you have studied. Remember to Compare the Violence in Poems and how the Poets Present the Young People by the Way they write about them.

Authors Avatar

Rachael Elliott 11d

Compare the Ways that Poets Write About Violence in at least four of the Poems you have studied. Remember to Compare the Violence in Poems and how the Poets Present the Young People by the Way they write about them.

Along with Armitage’s “Hitcher”, there are three other appropriate poems connected with violence. “The Man He Killed” by Thomas Harding, which is about a soldier describing the needless death of soldiers in battle. “The Laboratory” by Robert Browning, which is a betrayed lover seeking revenge on her rivals. “Education for Leisure” by Carol Ann Duffy which is the portrayal of a disturbed mind with murderous intentions. Although the obvious link between these poems is the topic of violence the poets use many different styles of writing, specific vocabulary and characters to convey the many different forms violence takes.

        “Hitcher” by Armitage contains many clichés and irrelevant details such as

“A Vauxhall Astra. It was hired.”

This colloquial language is disturbing because it is materialistic and real, this irrelevant statement is so random that it provokes the reader to wonder about the mental stability of the speaker, posing the question of whether the situation is possible or the character pschycologically realistic. There are many details like this such as place names; it is very effective as it brings a sense of reality to extreme violence that is murder. The fact that the statements are so irrelevant adds effect to the nonchalant mood of the speaker. The idea of someone being so unfazed by such a horrific action of theirs is bordering on amusing as he takes a smug pride in his actions and there is a definite concentration on the actual act of crime as opposed to the motive or emotions behind it.

Join now!

        This dark humour and needless violence is not uncommon in poetry but the deadpan delivery and closeness to everyday life is unusual and conveys a distinctly threatening message. In “The Laboratory” by Browning there is a far more different approach to murder. Although the murder has yet to take place there is the same apparent jealousy of the victim. The lady in “Laboratory” envies her lover’s mistresses as the speaker in “Hitcher” envied the hippy’s carefree life style. However what is very different is the way Browning concentrates on the reasoning behind the murder, the speaker is full of anger ...

This is a preview of the whole essay