Mrs Midas 10 Marker: Isolation/Loneliness Flashcards
“Your accent wrong”
Communication is more than just speaking the same language. Speaker does not fit in and shows a sense of isolation.
“Big boys eating worms and shouting words you don’t understand”
People here seem aggressive and scary to the speaker who was just a child back then. Sense of not fitting in and further isolation.
“In his dark room he is finally alone”
‘Finally’ suggests photographer desperately wants to be isolated after experiencing the war taking place.
“Corners, which seem familiar, leading to unimaginable pebble-dashed estates”
Highlights how speaker can’t find her way around new place. Lost and isolated physically and socially.
“They do not care”
Photographer isolates and separates himself from ‘them’ (people back home) as they haven’t witnessed the war and suffering like the photographer has.
“He sought approval without words”
Photographer doesn’t understand language (isolated from war victims) so had to get approval from looks. This memory has a big impact on him further isolating himself from people back in his home country who didn’t experience this.
“I say her phrases
in my head”
‘In my head’ has connotations of ‘quiet’ ‘unheard’ and ‘concealed’ creating a sense of isolation as Duffy sits on the train thinking about her mother.
