Giuseppe by Roderick Ford Flashcards
Title: Giuseppe
Italian version of ‘Joseph’
Common name to most societies
Impersonal tone - ‘Giuseppe’ instead of ‘Uncle Giuseppe’ marks the distance between the Speaker and their uncle
Stanza 1
‘Sicily in World War 2’
‘Bougainvillea’
‘the only captive mermaid in the world was butchered’
‘by a doctor, a fishmonger’
Sets the scene - foreshadows death and struggle
Vibrant looking plant that symbolises peace - This is quickly juxtaposed with violence
The adjective ‘captive’ highlights womens restrictions within society
Verb ‘butchered’ shows dehumanisation of women - Graphic imagery
Stereotypical occupations for a man - Men are the fishmongers and females are the fish, Personification - Men abusing their power - Concept of male gaze
Stanza 2:
‘She, it had never learned to speak’
‘they’d said’
‘But the priest’
‘her throat was cut’
‘she was only a fish, and fish can’t speak’
‘she screamed like a women in terrible fear’
‘She,it’ - The use of caesura show how men reconcile the actions they are committing - Objectification
In mythology mermaids typically have a beautiful voice however she is speechless
Pirates hunt mermaids and carry characterised as greedy, brutes and savages
Men speaking for women
Religious critizism
Graphic imagery - Gory
Personification shows attempt of justification
Simile - ‘terrible’ emphasises extreminism of situation
Stanza 3:
‘And’
‘ripe gold roe’
‘this was proof she was just a fish and anyway an egg is not a child’
‘someone tried to take her wedding ring, but others stopped him,’
Giuseppe takes a breath before continuing on to further atrocity
The mermaid is pregnant - ‘gold’ highlights pregnancy to be precious
Attempts of justification towards morally wrong actions
Greedy nature of human vs some sense of morality - human insatiable desire for income, wealth, sex, power ect - selfish humans
Stanza 4 and 5:
‘The rest they cooked and fed to the troops’
‘Starvation forgives men many things’
‘couldn’t look me in the eyes’
‘for which I thank God’
Male gaze - women are the pleasure of men - Men acting animalistic and carnal towards women in order to be satisfied
Have the troops realised? or are they choosing to ignore out of their own desperation to survive?
Collective responsibility?
Attempt to justify men’s behaviour
Giuseppe’s guilt prevents him from making eye contact. He is ashamed
Critic of religious ideals
People justify their sins by asking for forgiveness and thinking all is forgotten after
Themes
Conflict
Cruelty
Morality
Religion
Guilt
Power
War
Structure
Free verse creates a conversational tone due to lack of rhythm and rhyme scheme
Use of caesura to break lines up by pausing, makes it seem like the narrator is reluctant and worried to continue the story on.
Enjambment represents chaotic and confusing process - sinister pace
Context
Doctors take the Hippocratic oath (mythology) that obliges them to do no harm to their patients and to benefit them
WW2 Men = Masculine, violent, protective and provider
WW2 Women = Restricted, prone to sexual harassment, homemakers
Pinochio - Guiseppe or Geppetto is the poor wood carver in italian story pinochio about a wooden puppet brought to life and yearns to be treated like a “real boy” similar to how the mermaid wants to be treated as a women or human.
Pinochio embodies the treatment of anti-semitism during WW2.
Jewish people stereotypically have a larger nose indicating they are lairs and manipulative.
Society are the puppeteers and women are puppets as they are controlled
“My uncle”
“my uncle, the aquarium keeper”
Decapitalisation indicates loss of respect
Referring to the uncle as an aquarium keeper shows loss of affection towards the uncle.
