on her blindness

Question 1

what is the relevance of the literary illusion to Miltons ‘on his blindness’

Answer 1

on his blinds is a sonnet about being blind as a gift from god and privilege
however in Miltons poem it is from the perspective of the sufferer whereas Thorpe’s poem is from the perspective of the observer which is ironic and becomes a key theme

Question 2

structure

Answer 2

mothers difficulties reflected in the repeated use of enjambment through units of sense being broken across the page - this has a disorientating for the reader, losing their bearings just as the mother is unable to navigate a familiar space

Question 3

‘my mother could not bear being blind to be honest. one shouldn’t say it. one should…’

Answer 3

short simple sentence lack positive adjectives = bleak situation
plosives of bear being blind = brutalistic, authentic
repletion of one = removed speaker mitigating topics and the taboo - nerves

Question 4

’ its living hell, to be honest… the locked in son’

Answer 4

highlights the struggles to find emotional honesty from the repetition of honest.
‘locked in son’ - paralysis, lack of control as a family member/ carer projection of familial guilt. shift in relationship

Question 5

“golden weather, of course, the autumn trees.. ablaze with colour, the ground royal with leaf-fall”

Answer 5

this foils blindness - glory in sight and vision
pathetic fallacy of autumn welcomes death - rich and warmness in christian death vs pitch blackness of earthly life
autumn is also a season of decay - wearing away

Question 6

‘her eyelids were closed in the coffin; it was up to us to believe

she was watching, somewhere, in the end’

Answer 6

structural separation and uncoupling highlights the extreme guilt
- gratitude
- appearance vs reality
- identity and self representation in death
- christian allusions mirror miltons on his blindness