brooklyn cop Flashcards
the cop has “two hieroglyphs” on his face
this metaphor shows that just as the egyptian hieroglyphs are difficult to decode and decipher so too are his emotions hard to read- he is stoic and unphased, as his job would require him to be. also, hieroglyphs are deeply engrained into stone, as are his scars and other marks of violence engraved into his face
the cop walks over the “thin tissue over violence”
in this metaphor, the basis of law and civilisation is compared to a tissue- fragile. it can be easily broken or ripped like a tissue, for crime to rear its ghastly head. this shows that the cops job is futile due to how fragile order is- he cannot prevent it from caving in.
“gorilla with a nightstick”
this quote is juxtaposition- the cop is compared to a gorilla- wild, domineering and strong, armed with an insufficient weapon, a baton. this almost mocks the cop- a manly figure that lacks the power to change anything.
when he says see you to his wife “he hoped it, he truly hoped it”
the repetition of “hoped” shows that he prays he will return from work unharmed, to see his lover. he is not guaranteed a return ticket, so instead, prays and wishes for it.
who would “have to be his victims?”
this rhetorical question shows that, whilst the cop can be a victim of violence, he also inflicts it to survive and enforce the law. this contrasts with the rest of the poem in which we are made to sympathise with the cop for the evil that he withstands, as we find out that he is also a murderer that inflicts violence and causes suffering- a part of that evil.
