From Long Distance Flashcards
What is this poem about?
The ways that grief can cause people to behave irrationally.
In this poem both the father and the child realize that their methods of coping could be seen as abnormal, yet they continue with those same patterns of behaviors to manage their heartbreaks.
What is a volta?
A sudden change in tone or topic in a poem
Where is the volta in this poem and why is it there?
It occurs in the last stanza when it reveals that “both” parents are dead, not just the mother/wife. We realise here that the speaker is also experiencing irrational manifestations of grief.
The rhyme scheme changes in the last stanza (it was ABAB - to GHHG)
What does the semantic field of ‘hot’ and ‘cold’ illustrate in the first stanza?
“Warming”, “gas”, “hot water bottles” - symbolise the warmth, love and intimacy of the couple’s relationship.
Cold is implied by “dead” but also by the fact that slippers/ hot water bottles and gas are needed (it must be cold.) This could symbolise the absence of the wife - that warm loving relationship is no longer there and the father lives alone.
How does the father express his grief in irrational ways?
What do these things show?
He lives as if she’s still alive. He puts her slippers by the bed, he warms a hot water bottle for her, he renews her transport pass.
It’s hard to let go and move on.
How does the father try to hide his irrational grief?
He asks the son to phone ahead so that he can clear away all of the possessions of the wife which are out in the house.
Why might the father try to hide his grief?
He is ashamed/ his grief is private/ he feels as though others will judge and disapprove
What might the “phone” be symbolic of?
The distance between the father and son - as suggested by the awkward phone call the son is required to make before visiting his father.
It could also symbolise the way in which the father can no longer contact his wife.
What might the “rusted lock” symbolise?
The way in which the father is locked in to his denial that his wife has died. He cannot move on.
What might the “phone” “door” and “key” all symbolise?
These are access points to the outside world. Instead the father chooses to stay locked away inside in his fantasy world where his wife has not died.
What tone is conveyed in the speaker’s phrase:
“my mother was already two years dead”
Frustration and irritation with his father.
A lack of empathy
What does the following simile imply?
“raw love were such a crime”
This hints at the way in which fathers were expected to be able to bear difficult emotions ‘manfully’ and not behave in the irritational way that this father is.
There are frequent consonant sounds in this poem: “dead”, “dad”, “gas,” “bottles” etc.
Why might the poet have done this?
The harsh consonant sounds could be expressions of the father’s pain as well as the speaker’s anger and irritation with his father.
“I believe life ends in death that is all.” What does the end stop at the end of this line represent?
That for the speaker, death is final - period - there’s nothing after.
The father has a number of objects which he still keeps in order to create the illusion that his wife is still alive. What object does the son have in the final stanza which shows his denial that his father has died?
A new black phone book which he has written his deceased father’s phone number into.
