The writer also adds in a little humour, claiming that a laminated advertisement is meant for ‘motorists and to the sheep in an adjacent field’. The advertisement is definitely not meant for animals but the writer could possibly be implying that either very few people pass by that place or that no one actually bothers to look at it. However, this use of humour also has a negative connotation and seems to be expressing his irritation towards travelling.
The persona feels ‘dizzy stepping out of [his] craft’ and tries to ‘readjust’ his senses ‘to firm land’. Here, the writer is showing the negative side to travelling, which is shown by the dizziness one feels after just having travelled for a long distance. Feeling dizzy is something that no one looks forward to and hence the writer could be trying to imply that travelling is not all that fun after all. In the fourth paragraph, the writer describes the inside of the service station, down to every detail. The sudden use of a short sentence, ‘No one was talking’, emphasises on the silence and monotony of the setting. This suggests that the writer finds the idea of travelling very sad and monotonous. This can be seen once again when the writer claims there was ‘an air of reflection, of sadness, too’.
However, despite describing the service station as ‘architecturally miserable’ and tables as ‘dotted with islands of dried ketchup’ from previous travellers, the writer still manages to see something different that ‘long-departed travellers’ have not. He finds that ‘something about the scene moved [him]’. He managed to find ‘poetry’, art in this ‘forsaken service station’, making him think about all other travelling places of equal importance or emphasis such as ‘airport terminals, harbours, train stations and motels’.
Throughout the poem, the theme of appearance versus reality is embedded. When the sky turns dark and the persona looks out of the window, the traffic begins to look like ‘white diamonds extending into infinity in two directions’. The writer could be trying to imply that even though travelling is something that can be monotonous and boring, an artistic and beautiful side of travelling still exists. Throughout most of the passage, the writer describes travelling negatively but in the end, still claims to find poetry and inspiration from it, hence bringing out the theme of appearance versus reality once again.
The writer uses very descriptive words in the passage and also mentions everything in great detail. The descriptions used mainly relate to sight, ‘woman was idly rotating a teabag’. Even though this action might seem negligible to everyone, the writer realises the importance to include that in the passage. However, there are descriptions of observations made from all other senses as well, ‘sound of piped upbeat music’ and ‘smelt of frying oil and lemon-scented floor polish’. All these descriptions might seem unimportant to few but actually, the writer is able to portray the setting very clearly through the use of such detailed description. By appealing to not only sight, but to all other senses as well, the writer is able to paint a picture in the mind of readers, such that readers can imagine whatever the persona is undergoing, as though the readers are there themselves, going through everything the persona is going through. Hence, readers are able to better understand the idea of travelling that Alain is trying to convey.
In conclusion, Alain has a both a negative and positive idea on travelling places. Despite travelling places being very monotonous and boring, there still is an overlaying sense of beauty and meaning behind them. The writer has successfully expressed this through the theme of appearance versus reality and the use of such detailed description throughout the passage.
by
brokenarrrow (student)
