Brooklyn Cop Flashcards
Built like a gorilla but less timid
Maccaig creates a cartoonish image of the cop and the physical description suggest a stereotype from a movie or tv show.
Describing the cop as a gorilla is a still from King Kong as he is present in climbing the Empire State Building in the movie which in New York, this poem is set.
A simile is used to represent the Cops physical potential. Reader is given the impression of an imposing figure with formidable presence, immediately compared to an animal
The idea of the man/cop being ‘less timid’ suggests that he is tough yet brave, tis can be viewed as timid animals and the cop is supposed to be less timid than a not so timid animal
thick-fleshed, steak coloured
Maccaig suggests he is also tough on the inside
The word choice of ‘flesh’ and ‘steak’ compare the cop to a piece of meat, something raw with connotations of blood and violence
he walks the sidewalk and the thin tissue over violence
Metaphor- suggests that violence is never far away in the streets pf Brooklyn that the cop patrols and like the tissue peace is fragile and delicate and could break at any moment. This has a strong contrast to the thick flesh and this suggests the importance of the cop preventing violence ripping the tissue and causing chaos.
‘See you, babe’ to his wife, He hoped it he truly hoped it.”
The language used by the cop is something you would imagine seeing in a movie yet the rest show the vulnerability that his told in society brings.
The repetition of ‘hoped it’ stresses the danger of the environment, hinting at desperation and contrasting against the casual conversation he has with his wife. When he says he truly means it as a genuine wish and it adds authenticity to it.
Should the tissue tear, should he plunge through into violence
Repetition of what suggest uncertainty shows the possible violence that the cop faces and the challenges that he could have to take on and it is all unknown. The repetition also demonstrates the severity of violence that he has to face which is almost impressive.
what clubbings, what gunshots between Pheobe’s Whamburger and Louie’s Place
Long sentence structure is present in this stanza to show the challenges the cop may face.
Language used helps to root the poem to New York, by the word ‘hamburger’ which has American connotations and is fairly common to refer to a building as someones place in America. They aren’t glamorous locations and sound cheap or dodgy where criminal would possibly hang out. Wham is a word that could suggest the sound of a punch landing in a comic strip.
The word choice also emphasises the danger of New York. Tear suggesting sudden pain.
Alliteration of tissue tear creates a quick phrase that shows a sudden act whilst plunge implies violence can be abrupt and uncontrollable. The image of the cop being put into violence captures the physical nature.
gorilla with a nightstick, whose home is a place He might, this time, never get back to?
The nightstick is referred to the baton that he carries and it suggest the idea of vulnerability of the clubbings and gunshots.
The nightstick suggests a more basic physical violence than a gu.
This rhetorical question is designed to challenge the reader to consider whether they would be able to do his job.
And who would be who have to be his victims
Consider 2 points- what kind of people would mess with the cop and what would they have to do to turn him to violence.
The word choice of ‘victims’ suggests that someone who gets on the wrong side of the cop will be the victim. It isn’t just the cop who is at risk of violence as he can also be violent himself.
