The gun Flashcards
What is the poem about?
It’s mostly about power
- violence and destructive imagery to do this
- looks at death and damage
What does caesura do?
Disjointed the rhythm and ‘Jared’ flow
- creating the sound of guns showing the distribution they can cause
- could show nerves/ apprehension
Jarring punctuation
The cooking: jointing
Harsh sounds quote
‘Grainy polished wood stick’
‘Grainy polished wood stock
Plosives consonant sounds, removes any softness and emphasises damage and power
Juxtaposed ideas
‘Fresh’ ‘spring’ ‘clean’ puts the destructiveness of the gun into context
Semantic field of death/ violence
Death = reek, dangling, shot follows all through the poem
Repetition of ‘you’
Inclusive makes reader a part of the poem
Guilt??
Brings narrator in at the end - link between people?
‘At first it’s just practise’
Immediately put into context with the following lines, creating a sense of apprehension and I expecting.
What does the colon after practise do?
Creates a pause to make the reader consider the weight
‘Like when sex was fresh’
‘Fresh’, meat, animalistic, dehumanises both men and women alike
- could link to a power dynamic
Quote about sex
‘Like when sex was fresh’
Quote about apprehension and in expecting
‘At first it’s just practise’
‘The king of death’
Traditional idea of male power - could also be a comment on the power of the rich with connotations of loyalty
Power
Mainly looks at the power of the physical gun
- also explores the looks at human power over nature or masculinity
Gender
A mans weapon? Not traditionally feminine imagery, no clear divide
- left to interpretation - a comment on quasi responsibility
Conflict
Effects not only the environment but is brought into the ‘house’ = destructive
‘Gun’ and ‘house’
Juxtaposition
- ambiguous
‘When sex was fresh’ double analysis
The gun has added a new dynamic to the relationship between the speaker and her partner, the fun has also changed the person the speaker is addressing
Past tense verbs
‘Run’ and ‘flown’
‘Run’ and ‘flown’
Past tense verbs show that the creatures have stopped running and flying
- possibly the speaker feels remorse because she understands that these animals had lives and the killings were unnecessary
‘You’
Very direct causing the reader to feel uncomfortable and unsettled
- showing that the speaker is uncomfortable with death
‘Grey shadow’ ‘green checked cloth’
Contrast between domestic life and presence of the gun
- forebodes death and change
‘Grey shadow’
The gun is in an environment it doesn’t belong in
- grey shadow on domestic life
Atmosphere
Ominous atmosphere, makes reader uncomfortable
Stanza length
Between 6 or 7 single lines
- attention grabbing, constantly changing
Punctuation
Helps shape the rhythm can be interpreted as representing the abrupt changes in events of the poem
Break between first stanza and second
Ambiguous, unnatural break usually presents change and emphasis
What shows the speaker is guilty?
Drtachment
‘Clean through the head’
Rabbit was shot without any internal struggle within the shooter
I join
Change in attitude toward the gun compared to previous sense of uneasiness
What does the last stanza do?
Provide an answer to the first stanza as to how the house changes due to the presence of the gun
What has happened to the house now the gun has come?
Before the house was dead and now has been revived
- their relationship has been revived
- irony in the fact the gun which is associated with death has bought life
The speaker is no longer
Afraid of the fun and enjoys the change
‘Slicing, stirring and tasting’
Sibilance and alliteration causes a soft hissing which creates a sinister tone and mirrors a snake
‘His black mouth sprouting golden crocuses’
Enjambment
- separation between life and death
- yellow crocuses symbolise happiness and cheerfulness which is juxtaposed by the black which is associated with grief and death
