How and how effectively does Dannie Abse end 'Ash on a Young Man's Sleeve'?

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How and how effectively does Dannie Abse end

Ash on a Young Man’s Sleeve’?

Jeffrey Li (10L)

Dannie Abse ended this brilliant story in a simple and sombre manner. Within this ending there are many areas of contrast to reflect upon, each portrayed to be seemingly meaningless yet each embodied with a deep and symbolic message.

The first area that is to be assessed is the tone that Dannie Abse decides to use in this ending. Rather than adopting the same tone throughout this final chapter, it changes gradually yet quite significantly from the start to finish. To begin with, we can see that his tone is casual and typical of an adolescent character. Dannie has reached a crucial stage in his life where he has no choice but to acknowledge the change that awaits him. He is no longer the child who he used to be - no longer ‘10 years high’ (p11) but the ‘emperor of his 18 years… king of the tall trees… and big boss of the grass’.   By the final lines of the ending, the tone has become far more solemn and intense.  

At the opening of his ending, Abse possesses a casual and almost suppressed tone; and he acts as if the events that have passed by are no big deal. He’s reached the point where he is now independent and can no longer be as reliant on his parents as he once was. Even in random streams of semi-consciousness he resents what they say and wishes to continue his life on his own. Yet somehow, despite his resentfulness on the surface, deep down he still longs for the loving nagging of his parents:

“I didn’t go home… my parents would be saying the same things all over again.”

“I sat on a wooden bench… thought for a moment what my mother would have said.”

The ironic thing is that even though he was trying to escape the embrace of his parents by going to the park, unconsciously, he was unable to let go of their nurture that has been with him for the past 18 years. At the area where he speaks about his birthday, his tone has been almost reduced to sarcasm. Like a typically pseudo-depressed 18 year old, he feels like the misery that he has absorbed has driven him to the point where he has almost no care for whatever happens in his life.  

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“Perhaps it wasn’t a nun, but a German spy.”

“I laughed until I stopped laughing”

The idea that he is trying to amuse himself through a passing nun reflects the deep sadness and emptiness that is residing within him. He knows what he is doing is pathetic but due to his boisterously false carelessness, he pretends to be completely oblivious to his own actions and state of mind.

“It had been raining, but now the sun, aware that it was my birthday, rubbed its way through the clouds transforming their edges into a silver splendour.” ...

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