On Her Blindness by Adam Thorpe Flashcards
Title: “On Her Blindness”
Mother is literally visually impaired however her family are the ones who are truly blind as they can’t see her pain
Context:
Title reference to John Milton’s sonnet ‘on his blindness’ 1655 as first he is scared and can’t talk to God but later discovers it’s about feeling the connection with God. Being able to see or not doesn’t restrict his relationship with God
Structure:
Enjambment represents never ending flow of memory - stream of consciousness to make evident the speaker feels extremely intently on this situation - intense emotions - conversational tone
lots of white space symbolic of blindness
Poem mainly organised in pairs significant of how we have two eyes- constant reminder of his mum’s lack of vision.
use of Dialogue gives a familiar tone like a conversation and again makes the speaker a likable character with a relatable family.
Agenda:
There is a stark contrast in the poem between heroism and pity. There are a lot of references to enclosed spaces which is symbolic of the mother being trapped by her disability
- the idea of family and the feeling of guilt and helplessness of ageing and the inevitability of death an suffering.
-The decline in the mother’s ability to see and do everyday tasks can be interpreted as showing a decline in the ability to have self-identity, as she is no longer able to do things for herself and make her own decisions and choices.
-The lies we tell ourselves in the face of frailty and ageing, to save other or spare being a burden
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Themes:
Family
Identity
Illness
Society
Section 1:
“My mother could not bear being blind”
“To be honest..”
“Handicaps are hell”
“Who bear it like a Roman”
“Find joy in the fight”
plosive alliteration shows emotional impact the mother endures
colloquial tone between mother and son - Irony as the mother does not want to be honest about her suffering
generalised belief that handicaps are burdensome - harsh alliteration of ‘h’ indicates resentment - criticism of stoicism - people lack of understanding towards those experiencing these misfortunes of being different
simile highlights metaphorical pretense to how people hide their disabilities and put on a strong heroic facade to hide their hurt
Repetition of “bear”
juxtaposition between joy and fight. Reference to how those suffering with illness have to continuously fight and search for some form of happiness rather than living through strenuous battle in misery. Joy is an abstract noun her mother struggles to find as it isnt tangible
Section 2:
“(try it in a pitch-black room)”
“It’s living hell, to be honest Adam,”
“the locked-in son.”
-parenthesis - speaker tired of euphemism of trying it in a dark room try to convey an understanding towards readers about the struggle of being unable to see
-speaker exposers his mother’s vulnerability and suffering - motif of hell shows dangerous circumstances
Repetition of ‘to be honest’ - like mother like son - same lingo - closeness reciprocated from beginning
-Use of punctuation to create an abrupt stop symbolises the mother’s frustrations and possibly the abrupt stop in her vision.
-The son is trapped also he is helpless in his situation he can’t provide his mother comfort.
-Concept of fulfilling masculine traits of a provider and support
Dark humour:
“If I gave up hope of a cure, I’d bump myself off.”
“bumping into walls like a dodgem”
“No built-in compass”
“she pretended to ignore the void”
-Uses jokes / cynical humour to mask the mother’s true feelings and intentions
-Simile - The dodgem cars seen as silly and trivial within a funfair
-Humorous element - compass is a symbolism of control, something that the mother lacks when losing her eyesight
- Once again masking her true feelings due to societal expectations of stoic ideals
Section 3:
“saw things she couldn’t see”
“blank as a stone”
- Expectation of the mother to uphold a sense of positivity when her children show their drawings
-simile for living a new life
Section 4:
“Her last week alive (a fortnight back)”
“golden weather”
“autumn trees”
“ablaze with colour”
“staring at nothing”
“now she can’t pretend”
“She was watching, somewhere, in the end.”
-Parentheses indicate a reflective tone as this secondary information is shared with readers
-use of imagery
-Pathetic fallacy to show the mother was surrounded by happiness
-Elegy showing the difference between the blind and the ones who aren’t
-Autumn is season of beautiful decay and deterioration where leaves fall down welcoming new blooming of flowers - Clinical environment juxtaposes to nature at the mother is dying however, in a way, is being saved from this endless cycle of suffering
Oxymoron
Dying doesn’t change anything for the mother as it still dark - added sense of finality - euphemism for death
Single line emphasises her death
‘She’d visit exhibitions, admire films, sink into television while looking the wrong way.’
The list of three shows the mother’s determination to combat her disability. The term ‘looking the wrong way’ could have a double meaning the first is the literal meaning and the other is the sons unawareness of his mother pain.
