Describe the ripsaws. The word throttled means to strangle or choke. This gives us an image of aggression, however, up until this point of the poem there has been no mention of violence, this foreshadows something, which could possible happen later on in the poem. The equipment which have been described are heavy duty machinery, by this we understand that the logging mill is a very big factory and this leads to the question of, how many workers there are?
The poet has now decided to mention one particular character. This is the first time a character appears in the poem, “Daddy lifted the tongs to his right shoulder….a winch uncoiled the steel cable from its oily scrotum;” There is now a character who has been introduced, “Daddy”. He is working at the logging mill where he is performing manual labour. We have not yet been told who he is and this adds as evidence towards my theory of the poem being written from a child’s perspective or of a childhood memory. In the quote above is a pause in between “right shoulder” and “a winch”. This is an example of a dramatic effect. This could be informing us that “Daddy” is thinking or it could be that the poet wants to focus particularly on “Daddy”. “Uncoiled the steel cable from its oily scrotum;” could be describing a piece of machinery for example a crane. The word scrotum could mean a part of the crane in which a cable is pulled up. It also gives us the impression of the workplace being a male environment.
The poet then describes the co-ordination of the logging mill and how the workers work together, “He waved to the winch man and iron teeth bit into the pine”. This is another example of personification, which reflects towards a violent and aggressive atmosphere. I believe that the continuation of the foreshadowing is preparing us for a drastic event, which will take place and turn the poem upside down.
The next three lines tell us that the factory exports materials, “yellow forklifts darted with lumber to boxcars marked for distant cities”. This is again very straightforward and it shows that people are working very quickly and most probably on a tight schedule.
The whistle is very important on line thirty-three because it tells the workers what time they can go for lunch, “At noon, Daddy would walk across the field of goldenrod and mustard weeds, the pollen bright and sullen on his overalls”. This quote builds atmosphere through nature. The mustard is known to be hot and this compares to the high temperatures. The flowers mentioned deflect “Daddy’s” mood by colour. On the outside, he looks bright and cheerful, however on the inside he looks very sullen and down.
The poet has described what “Daddy” eats for lunch, “He’d eat on our screened-in back porch---red beans and rice with ham hocks and cornbread, lemonade and peach jello”. This tells us what types of food he would eat. This also shows his culture and it could be classified as extra background information. This part of the poem is separated by the next part of the poem. This represents the break from their hard working day.
The importance of the whistle is very crucial in line forty-one and is as important as line one and line thirty-three because it controls the workers lives and when they can do certain things, “The one O’ clock bleat burned sweat and salt into afternoon”. This gives us the impression of hard manual labour because they have just had their lunch hour and it is now time for them to burn off their fat. We know they carry out hard physical work because the poet has described this, “the wheels within wheels unlocked again, pulling rough boards into the plane’s pneumatic grip”. The phrase “pulling rough boards” shows us how hard the work was. The phrase “wheels within wheels unlocked again” gives us an image of non-stop work because wheels are objects, which always move, and they have been unlocked meaning that the wheels will begin to move. This emphasises the hard work the men carried out. The “pneumatic grip” is a compressed air grip, which is a heavy-duty piece of machinery used in the logging mill.
Throughout the whole poem, Yusef Komunyakaa has used nature to create a contrast between a strange and mixed atmosphere.
“Wild geese moved like a wedge between sky and sagebrush”. This simile is a very effective way of showing how the geese moved. The geese moved between the sky and the bushes. This gives us the impression of the geese just taking off for flight. This could have been because the geese were stunned or frightened of something. The poet has used nature as a symbol. The bird image is very effective because birds represent freedom and they are free to fly wherever they please. This reflects towards the feelings of the workers and “Daddy” because it seems to be that they do not have much freedom and their lives evolve around work. By the workers being trapped, we get the impression that they are trapped by poverty and oppression. We know this because the poet is repeating the fact that they have to do different types of physical work. In a way, they could be called slaves, but doing physical work does not necessarily mean that they are slaves, it is honest work.
“As Daddy pulled the cable to the edge of the millpond and sleepwalked cypress logs”. The poet has described “Daddy” to be “sleepwalked cypress logs” and this gives us an idea of “Daddy” walking on one spot as if you are using a treadmill.
Line fifty-one tells us that the day changed, “the day turned on its axle”. “Daddy” has always been mentioned as hardworking and this implies to some extent that he is jailed by his job. The reason “the day turned on its axle” is that the workers have been given a substantial amount of work, “pyramids of russet sawdust formed under corrugated blowpipes fifty feet high”. The words “pyramids” and “fifty feet high” imply that the amount of work they have been given is huge. There is a sibilant sound in this quote, which is, “sawdust”. This linguistic devise is very effective because it reflects on what he is and how he is treated compared to the foreman. In those days, racism was a big problem, which never seemed to be solved. It symbolises that “Daddy” is considered dust compared to the foreman because he is black.
The day is now over when the whistle blows again for the last time and the way the poet has described the whistle makes it seem as though it has gone off very loudly and aggressively, “The five O’clock whistle bellowed like a bull, controlling clocks on kitchen walls:”. The simile is very effective and good for creating dramatic effect because it compares the loudness of the whistle to a bull. This yet again foreshadows aggression and violence, which is yet to come. The image of a bull also gives an impression of a male environment. The image of control is also effective because the clocks are also controlled, “controlling clocks”. This tells us that there is a specific routine and a time and place to do certain things. Now is the time for the workers to go home to their families after a hard day at work, “Women dabbed loud perfume behind their eras and set tables covered with flowered oilcloth”. This tells us that the workers wives appreciate the fact that their husbands work all day and they come home to a nice supper. We get the impression that families in those days were very close and united together.
Part one as a whole sets the scene and prepares us for what will happen in part two. Although part one prepares us for part two, the context is mainly irrelevant. Throughout the whole of section one the poet is always describing work and this gives us an impression that a meaning of this poem could be that work controls lives. So far in the poem (section one), the workers do the same thing day after day until a turning point occurs in section two.
In section two all the aggression, which was previously foreshadowed, is revealed, “when my father was kicked by the foreman, he booted him back”. This was a very strange, unusual and unexpected event to have occurred. The foreman is white and “Daddy” is black. With this piece of information, we develop the understanding of a racist attack. Although you would have thought if you were kicked you would kick back, but in those days, it was different. However, on this occasion “Daddy”
kicked the foreman back. This was the first sign of protest and this links to the 1960’s when the first protests for equal rights began. This relates to a film based on a true story involving a woman named Rosa Parks. She was a black woman who lived in America during the time of the bus boycott, which she started. The film was produced in 2001, which was to tribute her courage. The film “Ride to freedom” shows exactly how hard life was back in those days and how black people were actually treated. In those days, the black population were those who used buses most often. Rosa Parks was sitting in the black section of the bus and there were no empty seats remaining. A white civilian got on to the bus and due to the reason Mrs Parks was ordered to move. She remained seated and did not move because she was sitting in the correct place and she was entitled to a seat, especially in the black section of the bus. This then caused revolt and the driver threatened to call the police and have her arrested due to an inadequate reason, to my belief. She was eventually bailed out and from this point onwards, began the bus boycott. Due to Rosa Parks’ great efforts, she was recently presented with an award for her courageous attitude during the period from President Bill Clinton.
Mrs Rosa Parks is undoubtedly similar to “Daddy” because she stood up for her rights when she was on the bus, as did “Daddy” when he kicked back the foreman, he retaliated by booting him back. Although “Daddy” defended himself in this incident, he feels as though he did something very wrong and unjustified, which also gives him a guilty conscience.
“His dreams slouched into an aftershock of dark women whispering to each other”. This quote tells us that whatever he has achieved throughout his career and his entire life has been a waste of time and is now ruined. The reason why the dark women are whispering is that their husbands have done something wrong which has made them wanted by the foreman. The whispering is probably because they are scared of the consequences they may suffer due to their husband’s mistakes and this symbolises the fear within the women. By this understanding, we can imply that the women want to keep quiet and do not want to be found because something dreadful could possibly occur. Although we have been told that the women are whispering, it has not of yet been identified exactly what is being said. My implementation is that they are whispering about the fact that they have never had the chance to experience equal rights and that they never will see equal rights between all different types of people from different backgrounds, also that the black and minority ethnic groups in society are treated unfairly and to some extent are disadvantaged. The women will also be worried about their husbands and “Daddy” because he booted a foreman and for this reason, they are hoping that the white people would not terrorise them or their families.
The poet describes the women, “Like petals of a black rose”. We understand that roses symbolise beauty and this quote gives us the impression that the black women who were waiting for their husbands are very beautiful. The poet emphasises the ladies’ beauty by saying that the petals of the roses are, “In one of Busby Berkeley’s oscillating dances in a broken room”. This shows regular movement, back and forth. The phrase “broken room” gives us an idea of what is actually meant. You could say that this scene looked like a kaleidoscope with lots of beautiful colours. This piece of imagery emphasises on the ladies beauty.
Busby Berkeley was born in 1895 with the name ‘William Berkeley Enos’ to a theatrical family in Los Angeles, California. He is well known as an American stage and motion – picture director and dance choreographer, especially for his innovative direction of lavish dance routines for the big screen.
The poet has now used some words to describe fugitives, “Shadows, Runagates and Marys”. We understand that the poet is describing fugitives because the word “shadow” gives us an image of darkness and secrecy, hiding from someone or something. This is exactly what a fugitive does and in this case, the poem tells us that “Daddy” is the fugitive, on the run from the foreman.
“The steel – grey evening was a canvas zigzagged with questions”. This piece of imagery is very effective because it tells us the colour of the evening. It also shows that the sun has just set (dusk) because the sky is made up of many different colours, not only one. The colour used to describe the sky is “steel – grey”, this colour reflects towards “Daddy’s” mood and feelings which are dull and sad. He sun has just set and by this, we can imply that it is a dusty area, “Curling up from smokestacks, as dusky birds brushed blues into a montage”. This gives us an image of hard physical work, again because the birds are piling up all the dust to one area. The following quote links to this one and makes this image a lot easier to understand, “Traced back to L’amistad and the psychosis behind Birth of a Nation”.
The L’amistad was a slave ship, which ironically meant “friendship”. This was the setting of one of the historical slave revolts led by Black Africans in 1839. The slaves were later freed by the US Supreme Court in 1841 and were returned to their homeland Africa. The poet has compared the birds with the slaves of L’amistad.
“Birth of a Nation” is a novel, which was later made as a silent movie in the year 1915. The movie was about inequality and portrayed racism throughout the film by showing how people were treated unequally because of their race or culture. This also represents slavery as well as inequality.
The poet then goes on to describe an event, which seems to be going on secretly however there is also somebody trying to find out what the secret is exactly, “with eyes against glass and ears to diaphanous doors, I heard a cornered prayer”. This image of looking through glass and listening through transparent doors makes us feel that you cannot miss the slightest, of what was going on.
The next quote gives us a clearer understanding of what the “cornered prayer” actually was, “Car lights rubbed against our windows, ravenous as snow wolves”. The poet has used the language device, personification to describe the car lights with the human characteristic of rubbing against windows. This shows that the cars were very close to the windows. The simile, “Ravenous as snow wolves” shows that the snow wolves are acting like warriors and showing total desperation for something. The snow wolves represent the Ku Klux Klan (KKK). The KKK entering at this point of the poem is very effective because they portray an image of being sly, spies and vengeful.
In the 1960’s the Ku Klux Klan was a white racist group who were very violent, aggressive and terrorised innocent people.
On lines seventy nine to eighty two, we understand that an attack occurs, “A brick fell into the living room like a black body and a riot of drunken curses left the gladioli & zinnias maimed”. This description of the KKK proves that they are very violent. The phrase “Like a black body” shows that they are racist because it looked like they threw a black person rather than a brick. The word “riot” and “drunk curses” gives us the impression of the KKK being out of control.
The poet again shows a description of nature, “left the gladioli & zinnias maimed”. This tells us that the KKK is marching into the black people’s home and is destroying the flowers by stamping on them. The flowers give us a bright and cheerful image, which contrasts with the vicious image of the KKK. Gladioli are spear shaped flowers and this symbolises the violence, which is taking place. In addition, maimed means scarred for life but it is not just meant to describe the flowers but also the black people.
At this point of the poem the KKK are very drunk, we do not know what they are doing but we do know that they are uncontrollable. We understand that their characters are very sick minded and that they are very corrupt, “Double dares took root in night soil”. This quote proves that the KKK is indeed very corrupt because they are daring to do such awful things. This quote overall symbolises revenge. The image of root and soil is effective in such a way because it contrasts with
the Gladioli and Zinnias flowers becoming maimed. This could also possibly be foreshadowing the fact that revenge will be taken later on in the poem. The poet has mentioned revenge and this gives us an idea of the whistle reacting towards what the KKK are doing, “The whistle boiled gutbucket underneath silence and burned with wrath”. This shows that the fury of the KKK committing these terrible offences to the black people is represented by the whistle beginning to boil. It also shows that the whistle was actually silent but I believe this is used to create dramatic effect and the whistle starts to boil slowly, creating a build up of tension. The idea of anger also reflects on the feelings of the black people and the KKK because they may feel angry or furious.
The poet has now decided to re-introduce “Daddy” because the last time he was mentioned was when he kicked the foreman, “but by then Daddy was with Uncle James outside the crossroad”. We now know for sure that “Daddy” and “Uncle James” are preparing to do something, which is not very usual in their daily routine at all. “Their calloused fingers caressing the 38 on the seat of a pickup”. Having been given this information, we now understand that they are carrying a handgun. We can also assume that they are planning to go somewhere because they are sitting in a pick up truck. We can now infer that they are going to take revenge of some kind. The poet has used the word “Calloused” to describe their fingers because it is known that people with calloused fingers use their hands to carry out hard physical labour. Another word, which is used, is “caressing” which shows that they were handling the pistol eagerly and with anticipation.
The poet describes the moon and how it makes “Daddy” and “Uncle James” looks, “Maybe it was the pine scented moon glow that made him look so young and faceless”. This quote is very ambiguous because it does not mean much; however, the next quote clarifies the meaning, “Wearing his mother’s powder blue Sunday dress and veiled hat”. This quote is very straightforward and is self-explanatory. This is strange because he is wearing his mothers dress, however if you link it to the KKK it makes perfect sense. “Daddy” is on the run from the KKK and he is wearing a dress as a disguise so he is not caught. I believe the reason he is trying to hide could be because he may have shot the foreman and he believes that they are after him for revenge. We come to this conclusion because line number eighty-nine tells us that “Daddy” and “Uncle James” have a thirty-eight (handgun), so therefore this implies that they used or they will use the weapon to shoot someone.
Overall, this poem is about oppression. The poem shows the whistle as a representation of white people controlling black people.
Margaret Atwood’s poem “Game after supper” is about a person writing about his or her childhood. The surrounding they are in is described thoroughly and the first line of the poem sets the scene, similarly as “The whistle”. Throughout the poem “Game after supper,” we understand there is a similar tone of inequality although a different type. Another similarity is that both poems are written in a nostalgic way using a child’s point of view.
The poem “Game after supper” sets the scene at the beginning with the line, “This is before electricity, it is when there were porches”. With this quote we have evidence that this poem is set in the past because “before electricity”, would have been decades ago. It could also be set in an isolated area or the countryside rather than back in time. The idea of the poem being set in an isolated area reflects Margaret Atwood’s life because she was brought up in an isolated area in Canada. The poet notes that there are porches, “On the sagging porch an old man is rocking. The porch is wooden; the house is wooden and grey:” This quote tells us that there is an old man who is lazily resting on the porch and is rocking. This implies that he would probably be sitting on a rocking chair. This image of a man relaxing gives us the impression that there is a slower pace of life because this old man has plenty of time to relax. The poet goes from describing the porch to the house. The house is probably a type of log cabin and we can assume that the house is very old. The
poet creates atmosphere through the description of the house, assuming it is old creates a spooky kind of atmosphere.
Atwood continues the description of the scene, “in the living room which smells of smoke and mildew, soon the woman will light the kerosene lamp”. Atwood uses this quote and it implies the inequality between the male and the female. We know that Margaret Atwood is a feminist writer; this is why this line is significant because it shows that a woman is indoors doing the housework whilst the man is relaxing outside on the porch doing absolutely nothing. This example of inequality shows how the male figure of the household is in control, however he does not seem interested in helping out with the chores.
In the first three stanzas of the poem “Game after supper”, the poet has chosen to write from third person, however the rest of the poem is first person. This is very unusual because it starts off as a narrative poem and then changes to a conversation with the reader.
The person in stanza four could be a boy or girl but it has not been stated. “There is a barn but I am not in the barn; there is an orchard too, gone bad, its apples like soft cork but I am not there either”. This stanza alone is completely different to the poem “The whistle” because the person is talking about what they see whereas in the poem “Game after supper” the person is talking about what they are actually doing. This image of the person playing a game is very child like and makes the reader a lot more interesting because of the change in view of writing, the reader would wonder why there is a sudden change in view which will lead to the audience to carry on. The use of the word barn tells us that the poem is set on a farm. Margaret Atwood has used a simile, “its apples like soft cork”. This simile is very effective and emphasises the texture of the apples. This creates a sinister mood because apples are grown on trees and this implies that the area could be a forest or alternatively the trees create shapes from its shadow and spooky sounds from the wind blowing. The poet also uses the language devise, repetition. The poet is repeating the fact that the person is not in the barn, twice. This gives us an image of a playful game such as hide and seek, which when thought about is not played alone.
We notice the reason for the title “Game after supper” is that somebody is playing a game after suppertime. We know it is suppertime because stanza three quotes, “the woman will light the kerosene lamp”. This proves that it is becoming dark for the woman to light the lamp. This is different to “The whistle” because we understand the reason for the title instantly after reading the first line.
Throughout both poems, the natural environment has been used as a way of building atmosphere. The effect it has on the reader is that it makes the setting very calm and peaceful, but in the case of “The whistle”, it hides and also contrasts with hatred, anger, fury and other negative emotions. These are the different ways nature is personified to create different images.
The narrator’s cousins are introduced in stanza five and it seems as though they hide in many different places, “I am hiding in the long grass with my two dead cousins, the membrane grown already across their throats”. Here the quote talks about the person finding his or her cousins. The quote mentions that the cousins are dead. This change of tone is strange, however there are two things, which could explain this. The first is that the two cousins could have been murdered, the second could be that they passed away just before Margaret Atwood wrote the poem. I believe it is more likely for them to have been murdered because we also learn later that their throats have been slit. This means that it would have been impossible for them to talk or cry for help. This image of their throats being cut is very effective because it symbolises the fact that women do not have a say and cannot talk because their throats are slit. The metaphor, which describes this, is, “the membrane grown already across their throats”. With this evidence, I can also imply that the children that are hiding and seeking are all females because they are scared of the men and have a lack of confidence
within them. This would make sense because Margaret Atwood is a feminist writer whom is against inequality between males and females.
Stanza 5 has deliberately been written to be unclear and unambiguous because it will give the reader different ideas of what could happen. I can tell that this poem is looking back specifically at Margaret Atwood’s childhood because she is writing things from a child’s point of view. Although there is a lot of evidence to back this prediction, the poem could still be fiction. In stanza four repetitions occurs and the way it is written would only sound right coming from a child’s mouth and also it seems as though everything is bigger than her, “the long grass” and the “tall man”. These images suit a small child perfectly.
Stanza 6 continues from the dead cousins being unable to speak or call, “We hear crickets and our own hearts close to our ears; though we giggle, we are afraid”. We understand that it is dark because crickets make noises only in total darkness. The reason they hear their own hearts is that they are frightened and scared. It is also mentioned that they giggle whilst they are afraid. This is a common reaction towards fear and also gives us an idea of what their character is like.
As you continue to read the poem, it becomes more tense and slowly what happen to the cousins is implied, “From the shadows around the corner of the house a tall man is coming to find us;”. The word shadows gives us a kind of spooky image and could also represent death to some extent. The idea of someone coming to find him or her is very dramatic and tense because we know they feel scared and unprotected. I a way this is ironic because throughout the poem the girls have been playing hide and seek but they have been found by the wrong person. The tall man could be a number of people or things. He could be a scary monster formed by the shadows or a boogieman image. These myths and stories have created tension between the girls and it has effected them in a way that they believe these myths are true. Another possibility could be that the person is a serial killer who is out there just to get them. It is very clear who the person is, it is actually stated to be a shadow.
The final line of the poem is, “He will be an uncle, if we are lucky”. This proves to us that the girls are very scared and that they hope their uncle will save them from this nightmare. If the person is an uncle they will be safe, however if it is anyone else they may be in trouble.
Throughout the poem, the punctuation adds to the tension of the poem. There are commas in some points in order to make a pause during reading. This allows different levels of tension at different times. Both the poems have no rhyming scheme. They are both about characters having to be silent and accept their fortune of a life full of unequal opportunities. The poems both use linguistic devises such as similes and metaphors. Both of the poems do not fully explain what will go on at the end, however they leave the reader guessing. As part of a ploy for both poems, it is implied that someone may die.
Both poems are about childhood memories and are also written from a nostalgic point of view. The poems both create atmosphere and also the punctuation plays an important role. Another thing both poems have in common is that they both focus on the natural environment. This is used to create mood and atmosphere.
Although there are many similarities, there are also plenty of differences between the two poems. One difference is that in “The whistle” sound and time structure the poem, another thing is that the characters in “The whistle” consider revenge. One of the themes of this poem is racism and prejudice. Finally, “Daddy” is the main character of the poem whereas the central character is the narrator in “Game after supper”.
The ways the stanzas in “Game after supper” are structured and laid out subtly influence the meaning of the poem. Finally, the poem has a sinister tone.
Overall, I believe that both poems were very interesting and in both, any ambiguous lines made very good ideas of what could be meant. None of the poems really send out a message; however, they imply how awful the world would be without equal rights and democracy for all people of all communities and all races.