The image of the mothers life being dull is further emphasised when Larkin describes the 'Wedding Album' being near the television. This image suggests that the televsion is more of a central concern in the couples lives rather than their marriage vows etc. The 'Wedding Album' has become of secondary importance and this indicates that the romance has died out since the birth of the child.
By using the idea of wind in the poem, Larkin is able to add his own personal views. The wind acts as an idea of change. This is continued moreover in the third stanza via the use of enjambement. This enables Larkin to carry on and develop his point.
Larkin's use of imagery is very effective. The 'courting places' which were once used by the young mothers are changing but so are their children. The 'courting places' are still being used, however, the people of whom should be using them now have the burden of children and can no longer have the fun this place entails. The 'unripe acorns' as described by Larkin, are the children who are 'still in school'. This implies Larkin, as an outsider observing and looking in, believes that as generations pass romance is lost further and that people have children far to young. The children within the school are not mature enough to realise what 'courting' means. A grim humour is assumed when the reader realises these children still have a future wereas the young mothers do not.The tone of the poem has become increasingly more cynical.
Larkin refers to how regimented the mothers lives are again when they are 'expected' to pick up their children from school. The women have changed immensely with the pressures and responsibilities that the child has brought, they are putting on weight and losing their looks, probably due to having the children. 'Their beauty has thickened'. The young mothers lives are now and entirelly centred upon the children and their daily routine. Something then is 'pushing them to the side of their life' this seems an inevitable fate. The reader then gets the idea of a force of nature or time making the children a more important factor than themselves. The quote almost suggests that the women seize to have a worthwhile life of their own.
It is not until you read the poem over once more that the reader trully appreciates exactly what Larkin is saying. This is because Larkin makes his point in a very implicit manner which may not be understood in the first time of reading. Larkin truly wants the reader to reconsider their stance on having children young, this seems an amazing comment to make when Larkin wrote this poem in 1959 and the topic is very relevant today in 2004. It was this stance that made me address the issue in a way in which i would not before hand.
In the first stanza Larkin builds upon his already initiated idea of time passing. He makes his ideas aware by his wise use of imagery and tone. By using these techniques Larkin is able to make the reader aware of the transcience of life. By describing the children as playing in a 'recreation' park, Larkin is able to use the word in a manner much more that its dictionary definition. The word 'recreation' is ambigious but very important, it is not merely describing a modern playpark but generates the idea of new birth and life.
Larkin continues to establish the poem further, by his use of tone, by suggesting that the people involved in the poem are stereotypes. This can not be ever more evident when he views the mothers lives as dull and restrictive. This creates a very sombre and melancholic idea. Another example of this is when Larkin takes the everyday situation of an 'afternoon' and universalises his point very effectively. His message effects all of us and we can relate to the exact point that Larkin is making.
In fact this very point that i am discussing is made explicitly in the last two lines of the final stanza. Larkin describes thoughout the poem how marrying young and having children young effectively ruin your life. Larkin believes that by having children young, 'mothers' are restricting their lives. He indicates that the mothers have nothing to do but their regimented routine after having their children. 'Young mothers' lose their identity and are dominated by responsibility, they have lost control of what is truly their own. 'something is pushing them to the side of their lives'.
The poem 'Afternoons' by Philip Larkin made me think considerably about having children young especially at my age, 17. The idea that Larkin portrays, that young parents, in particular young mothers lose control of their lives as soon as they have a child. Personally I believe that Larkin's message is made more effective and memorable because he tells it in a very simplistic manner in which the reader can clearly understand. However, Larkin likes the reader to be challenged and tells his ideas via a very implicit manner. His use of theme, imagery and tone deepened my understanding of the issue and I believe the poem provides a great thinking point to any young teenagers considering having children.
