In addition, another aspect of language, which MacCaig uses to put across his point of view to me, is alliteration. The poet uses this in stanza three when he refers to the tourists who ignored the dwarf and went after the priest, who was also ignoring the dwarf as he says,
“A rush of tourists, clucking contentedly,
Fluttered after him as he scattered
The grain of the word.”
By using these lines and the technique of alliteration of the letter C, MacCaig is alluding to the parable of the sower when the seed fell on the path and the birds came to eat it up. Here MacCaig is comparing the tourists that are at the church to being the birds in the parable of the sower. This is because in the parable, the sower threw seed on the ground for the birds to eat and they were clucking around him after it. This is a comparison as this is what is happening with the tourists that are fluttering around the priest as he spreads the word.
This helped MacCaig to get his point across to me as it helped me to understand the poem better by referring to the parable.
MacCaig also uses pun to get his point of view across to me as he says,
“I understood the explanation and the cleverness.”
Here, the use of pun is through the word ‘clever’ as in reality it means that it was skilful of Giotto to paint pictures to help the illiterate understand the goodness of God. However MacCaig also is trying to put across that the church is sneaky by saying the money is for charity but not using it for charity and we know they do not do this as there is a beggar sitting outside. This to me gets MacCaig’s point of view across that we should help those less fortunate than ourselves.
In addition, MacCaig also uses word-choice to put his point of view across to me which I believe is that all people should be treated equally and we should help those less fortunate than ourselves. This is done successfully in stanza three as this is when the tourists were walking past the dwarf and did not do anything and MacCaig helped me to understand their actions in a moral and religious context as he says,
“It was they who had passed
The ruined temple outside…”
The word – choice in these lines put the actions of the tourists into a moral and religious context and reveals the poets attitude towards them as the ‘ruined temple’ is the dwarf who is deformed and in a sense – ruined. Also the tourists passed by him and their passing of the dwarf evokes the parable of the Good Samaritan. The moral context here is that they should have helped him as the Good Samaritan helped his neighbour instead of walking away like the priest and the Levite, and this is who the tourists are compared to him.
Furthermore, MacCaig uses more word- choice to help put his point that all people should be treated equally across to me. MacCaig uses this when he is describing the dwarf in greater detail as he says,
“… whose eyes
Wept pus, whose back was higher
Than his head, whose lopsided mouth…”
In these lines the word- choice is particularly effective as he is describing the dwarf who is not very pleasant to look at. He is not very attractive as there is pus pouring out of his eyes and he is a hunchback. The poet makes you feel that you would not really bother to help him either and thus justifying the thoughts and acts of the tourists who completely ignored him at the time. However he then goes on to surprise the tourists and make them feel pity for the dwarf when he says,
“Said Grazie in a voice as sweet
as a child’s when she speaks to her mother.”
Here MacCaig is trying to surprise the reader by giving the dwarf a sweet voice whereas one would expect a rough, deep voice. This is how MacCaig gets his point that we should all be treated equally across to me.
MacCaig also uses imagery to get his point of view that all people should be treated equally and that we should help those less fortunate than ourselves across to me. MacCaig used imagery throughout the poem as he referred back to what St Francis would have done in the position of all the people who ignored the dwarf and everything St Francis did to make him so good and the encouragement he gave to help poor people and people who needed his help. An example of this is when MacCaig describes the purpose of the frescoes which Giotto made as he says,
“That would reveal to the illiterate the goodness
Of God and the suffering
Of His Son.”
Here MacCaig shows that he clearly understood the explanation and cleverness of the frescoes, as they were revealed to people who couldn’t read or write. The image that they revealed was the suffering that the Son of God had to go through but God was still good to the people of the world. Here the priest is explaining that it was smart of Giotto to explain to the illiterates whereas there is a dwarf needing his help who he doesn’t help. This is ironic as the whole ‘business’ of Giotto really has become a business, as you now have to pay to get into the church to look at the frescoes.
In addition, further imagery used by MacCaig is the comparing of the actions of the priest and the tourists to the parables. This is done in stanza three when MacCaig compares the tourists to the birds scattering for seeds when he says,
“A rush of tourists, clucking contentedly,
Fluttered after him as he scattered
The grain of the Word.”
This shows me MacCaig is comparing the tourists to the birds and the Priest to the sower. He does not approve of the actions as it is compared to the parable of the sower of when he scatters the grain and the birds flutter after it. He does not approve of the tourists fluttering after the word and ignoring the poor dwarf, when in actual fact they should be helping him.
In conclusion, “Assisi” by Norman MacCaig is an intriguing and though-provoking poem, which has put across a definite point of view for me, which I believe is that all people should be treated equally and that we should help those less fortunate than ourselves. In this I essay I have shown how successful the poet was in making me share this view by using his thoughtful and intense language, word-choice and imagery techniques.
