revelation Flashcards
“at the threshold of the outhouse, someone held my hand and let me peer inside”
The holding of her hand reminds us that she is frightened.about the idea of being presented to the bull and needs someone with her. The connotations of “threshold” suggests that she is standing at a crossing point between her childhood and adulthood, waiting to enter the adult world. She has reached the stage in her life where she is ready to be exposed to her sexual awakening and the evil that is prominent in the world.
“they called him bob - as though perhaps you could reduce a monster”
The connotations of the name “bob” are of someone jolly, gentle and calm but the persona feels the bull is the complete opposite and that bob is not an appropriate name. The word choice of “monster” indicates the persona feelings towards the bull. It has connotations of large, dark and scary.
“only the black and the hot reek of him”
As she cannot see inside the outhouse she has to rely on her other senses.The poet synesthaesia of “hot” and “reek” to show that she can only smell and feel his heat. “Reek” has connotations of a strong smell which hints at her discomfort. This explains further that the girl is no longer at a stage of innocence. She has been introduced to the fear that surrounds her, that she was once oblivious to.
“darkness” and “a roar to be really scared of”
The persona continues to rely on her other senses until she can see in the gloom. She hears the bull before she sees it. The alliteration of “r” and the onomatopoeia of “roar” emphasise the volume of the bulls bellow, its scary sound. it also portrays dread and panic as the girl has over this new chapter she has reached in her life. She now has to live in a world where there is evil all around her.
“oblivious hens”
Using this word refers back to the purity the girl once had. The girl was once unaware of the sexual concept in life. She is also now envious of the hens who are unaware of the danger nearby. They only perceive the “clanking” of the bulls chains as a “faint and rather festive tinkling”. This is the start of her revelation that there are frightening and dangerous things in the world.
“black mass”
she now sees the bull as a symbol of evil. the pun refers to the huge size of the bull and also that it is a ceremony to worship evil.
“i ran my pigtails thumping on my back in fear”
In stanza three the girls response is to run away from the evil presence of the bull. pigtails are only worn by young girls, this image reinforces her youth and inexperience.
“pulling the legs off butterflies” and “past thorned hedges”
now that the girl has experienced this “revelation” she is alert to danger all around her. The imagery is now all about cruelty and pain. Non- childlike images as she enters the world of adulthood.
“scared of the eggs shattering”
Near the end of the poem she uses the word “shattering” to describe the eggs if they were to break, this emphasising the girls vulnerability. She is no longer in a safe environment that she once was. She now knows that she has little control over the bad things that could happen in her life.
