A Constable Calls Flashcards
how is the intimidating figure of the policeman shown?
represented with his bike.
“its fat black handlegrips”
heavy adjective describes the bike, symbolises the weight of the law and police.
seems large and threatening.
what does the description of the interrogation reveal about the boy?
evokes the boys unspoken fear.
“i sat at the polished holster with its unbuttoned flap, the braided cord looped into the revolver butt.”
“unbuttoned” – ready for use
“polished” —police enjoys using it
“braided cord”– connotations of a noose, fear of the punishment they might face.
“Any other root crops? Mangolds anything like that?”
the constables direct speech gives series of repeated leading questions, tempting the father to confess, intensifies the boys anxiety.
what does Heaney do towards the end of the poem?
presents the transference of guilt as the boy feels the burden of responsibility.
“but was there not a line of turnips where the seed ran out, in the potato fields?”
rhetorical question, free indirect thought gives boy’s point of view in the immediate time frame of the interrogation, dawning realisation of fathers lie.
“imagining the black hole in the barracks”
boy imagines father being lost in the unknown “black hole” of the police cell. beings to transfer guilt onto himself.
“looked at me as he said goodbye… the bicycle ticked, ticked, ticked.”
at the end of the poem, boy has assumed full guilt and believes he will be discovered. Ominous final line evokes a time bomb, his discovery is inevitable.
