WA AND MAD Flashcards
introduction
Both ‘Mother Any Distance’ by Simon Armitage and ‘Walking Away’ by Cecil Day-Lewis feature the themes of letting go through parent-child relationships exploring different perspectives during separation. Both poets expressing a sense of reflection as they explore the inevitability of growing up and moving away from their parents, due to changes in their relationships and lives.
walking away
In ‘Walking Away’, Day-Lewis also presents the theme of changing relationships, through the perspective of a father recalling his son’s first day of school expressing feelings of sorrow and sadness throughout the poem depicting the long-lasting effects of letting go of a loved one. He creates this idea through the use of this line, as he recalls back on his son’s first football game, “like a satellite wrenched from its orbit, go drifting away”. This line not only emphasizes the feelings of agony and pain the speaker felt back then but also the melancholic tone throughout the poem, as it illustrates the painful costs of parental love and the inevitability of having to let go, as the memory of when he broke away from his son is still imprinted in his mind, even after his son has fully grown up. The use of the simile highlights the separation between the father and son, as satellites orbit a planet hence in this case signifies the son’s previous reliance on the father and constant presence around him. The satellite being ‘wrenched from its orbit’ represents the son’s journey to independence as he grows older, he drifts away from this state of reliance on his father to a new orbit where his father plays a diminishing role, no longer his son’s world. The astronomical imagery depicts how abrupt and forceful the separation is to the father, as now he watches as their once close relationship slowly unravels in front of him making the father almost feel a sense of regret and helplessness, as he believes he didn’t spend enough time with his son. As well as this, a parent’s job is to provide structure and guidance for their children as they venture into the real world but the comparison of the son being a ‘satellite wrenched from its orbit’ suggests that a satellite is meant to follow a set path, but since its ‘drifting’ away the son is crafting its own path which is both unknown to the speaker and its child of what this path entails but they must choose to embrace it and make it their own. In particular, the contrasts of the words ‘wrenched’ and ‘drifting’ may suggest that the father is reluctant to let his son go, but the son is ready to embrace independence emphasizing the powerlessness that is experienced when choosing to let go but it is a decision that must be made. However, alternatively the satellite isn’t meant to fall out of orbit, and drift away making the son seem helpless and in danger, as the fathers and sons circle of life has been disrupted which is abnormal and strange, but he is incapable of reversing this change and must learn to cope with these potent forces of life. Another quote, which reinforces this idea is in the final lines of the poem, “How selfhood begins with a walking away and love is proved in the letting go”. This illustrates the conclusion of acceptance the father reaches, as he comes to the realization that if he truly wants to get over his son going away, he must let go first and have faith that his son will truly be fine. Despite it being challenging for him, he knows this is inevitable and that true parental love means allowing your child to face the real world and its challenges so his son can truly spread his wings and become his own planet. This gives the readers glimpse of the conflicting feelings that the speaker feels seeing his son grow up, but he does reach a place of acceptance. Day-Lewis could be potentially highlighting the fact that despite change being inevitable in our lives, the bonds with our loved ones can still be close and letting go is evidence of our love, like how he states at the end of the poem ‘loved is proved in the letting go’.
MAD
Similarly, in Mother, Any Distance, Armitage writes about a time when his relationship with his mother was changing as he prepared to move out, expressing a sense of deep reflection and questioning of not
only the depth of his relationship with his mother but of himself as he ventures in the world by himself no longer under the guidance of his mother. This is clear when Armitage refers to his mother as “the line still feeding out, unreeling years between us, Anchor. Kite.” This illustrates their infinite and strong bond between mother and son as both anchor and kite have a strong connection to the ground. The word, ‘anchor’ creates an ambiguous metaphor, as anchor stops a ship from floating away and getting lost, which is vital for safety and security as his mother keeps him in line, ensuring he is on the right path, making moral decisions. However, an ‘anchor’ could be holding something down and stopping it from being free which could reflect Armitage’s feelings of feeling restrained and unfree under his mother, despite being an adult he cannot gain independence due to their unbreakable bond. In particular, Armitage compares his mother also to a ‘kite’ something that pulls him back, something that draws him in every-time he flies farther away mirroring perhaps the act of a mother who draws their child back when they are in danger to make sure they grow as people but also know they can return to her whenever they need. An alternative interpretation could be that the contrasting images of anchor and kite highlights Armitage’s feelings of confusion he is experiencing towards his mother and increasing his independence, he conflicts between these two major parts of his life wanting to keep them both; his desire for freedom and independence as he embraces the new world, venturing to a new chapter of his life but also keeping the impregnable bond that he has with his mother. Like in ‘walking Away’, the father’s perspective on independence is similar to the child - scared, helpless but also excited for this new adventure to the real world. This is shown in the final lines of the poem, “I reach towards a hatch that opens up on an endless sky to fall or fly”. This metaphor creates an image of independence as it shows how every young person must find independence and take the risk of standing on their own two feet when they grow up. Also, ‘sky’ and ‘fly’ are somewhat harmonious as they are a return to certainty after Armitage’s period of reflection as now, he must make his own decisions without his mother’s guidance and whether he will fall or fly through his choices there is a sense his mother will be there for him should he fall. This makes the reader see that growing up can also bring opportunities but also dangers and risks as he ventures into the ‘real world’. Armitage uses cleverly crafted language to convey the feelings of uneasiness and tension he felt at this point in his life as he felt he had to let go from this world his mother shielded him from despite the strong bond they share. This is similar, to ‘Walking Away’ because the father feels continuous agony towards his son gaining independence but near the end of the poem, he learns to become accepting of it and learn that letting go inevitable but doesn’t affect the bond they share, as father and son. Both poems show the the painful costs of letting go and changing relationships.
conclusion
Overall, the poems are very similar as they both explore the inevitability of letting go of a loved one through parent-child relationships describing the painful costs that is parental love and how relationships can change. However, although they are similar both poems explore changing relationships from different perspectives emphasizing how letting go can be painful for both sides, a parent and to a child but growing up is inevitable
