Para 2 - word choice (corpse heavenward) Flashcards
Point
Furthermore, MacCaig presents the uncertain nature of hospitals through the use of word choice. This helps to develop the idea that the speaker is filled with uncertainty over what will happen to his dying loved one.
Quote and analysis
The quote “what seems a corpse is trundled into a lift and vanishes heavenward” depicts how the speaker feels uncertain at the sight of seeing a patient being moved to a different section of the hospital as he doesn’t know the severity of their illness. Hospitals are full of people with many different types of illnesses, some which many not be so visible, which makes them places filled with uncertainty.
“What seems a corpse” analysis
The phrase “what seems a corpse” helps to foreshadow what the speaker believes he is about to see, all he can think about is his loved one being on their death bed and this reflects his worry and anxiety over what he is about to see.
“Vanishes heavenward” analysis
Moreover the phrase “vanishes heavenward” presents hospitals as an uncertain place as it suggests that they are places filled with death because heaven is associated with death. Death is an uncertain thing and you cannot predict when you are going to die,hospitals just put emphasis on this because you can either come out of them cured or never make it out of them. This quote also reflects the speakers mindset of what he is about to see as people in hospitals who die are usually taken down to the bottom of the hospital, meaning that the “corpse” is not dead because they are being transported upstairs. This shows that he is constantly thinking about death.
