the gun Flashcards
“you”
second person
personal pronouns
“Bringing a gun into a house changes it”
“kitchen table”
- contrasting images of unfamiliarity and familiarity
“like something”
- simile
- association with death
“grey”
“green”
colour symbolism
- grey = death
- green = new life
“dangling on orange string”
- artificial, unnatural colour
similar to the unnatural death guns cause
stanza two sentence length
long -> short
symbolises the effects of bringing a gun into the house and how fast the mind adapts to violence (from just target practice to killing a rabbit)
“creatures”
- gun has shown the ugly reality as to the origins of meat
- a reminder that the meat you eat was once living
“Your hands reek of gun oil and entrails. You trample fur and feathers”
-gun draws out primitive instincts
- unleashes aggression
“your eyes gleam like when sex was fresh”
- primitive instincts associated with sexual instincts
- simile
“cooking: jointing and slicing, stirring and tasting”
list of verbs
- brought back to traditional gender roles
man = hunter
woman = preparer
“King of death”
- personification of death
“stalking out of winter woods”
suggestion of death
“his back mouth sprouting golden crocuses”
- contrasting colours
“crocuses” = first flower of the spring, new life sprouting from death - To preserve life, you need to inflict death
gun purpose
the gun reveals the hidden realities of survival, that you need to inflict death
“black mouth”
“golden crocuses”
“black mouth” = gun barrel
“golden crocuses” = flash of gunfire
