Brooklyn Cop

Question 1

What are the key themes in the poem?

Answer 1

Violence (violence of the city brutalises its inhabitants, it is ubiquitous in human nature. Power corrupts. Violence is necessary for human survival),
Civilisation vs savagery (a thin line divides the two. Even with technological advancement, humans cannot slay the demon within),
Irony (a nation that deems itself advanced cannot escape the primitive nature of violence),
Isolation (of the cop, on the streets he is on his own, an enemy. He is separated from his wife; she’ll never understand / empathise with what he deals with, unsure if he’ll get back to her. No one else wants to do this job),
How people are defined by their setting (he must become the ‘gorilla’, the tough, primitive, battle-hardening unfeeling man).

Question 2

What is the context behind the poem?

Answer 2

Inspired by MacCaig’s trip to New York in the 1960s. The poem is set in Brooklyn, which at the time was quite a dangerous place to be, the streets were filled with violence, and focuses on an un-named Brooklyn police officer. He is imposing and strong, and even threatening, but we also see him as being vulnerable and human. By portraying the cop as both a threatening animal and a vulnerable human, MacCaig questions how civilised modern society is and suggests the dehumanising nature of violence.