Wants

Question 1

how does Larkin use structure in Wants to illustrate his messages?

Answer 1

• repetition reflects repetivity of life as the speaker is trapped in the cyclical nature of social conformity whilst his true desire is to escape
• may also reflect his recurring/incessant desires; he can’t get rid of them/thoughts of death

Question 2

how does Larkin use metre in Wants to illustrate his messages?

Answer 2

sluggish iambic pentameter in the 2 refrains and heavy mid-line pauses (caesuras), combined with structural parallelism of the 2 stanzas, create a sense of weariness, exhaustion, and monotony

Question 3

analyse the quote ‘all this’ from Wants

Answer 3

• speaker perceives his life as a whole, questioning what his genuine desires are
• colloquial tone feels derisive and reductive, as the speaker perceives social norms as unimportant and himself as superior (egotistical)

Question 4

analyse the quote ‘sky grows dark with invitation-cards’ from Wants

Answer 4

• ominous suggesting confusion, secrecy, the unknown
• may mean that there are so many social norms that it alters the natural way of being (sunlight)
• conveys how the expectation to socialise and be part of a community fills him with a sense of dread and anxiety.

Question 5

analyse the quote ‘however’ from Wants

Answer 5

anaphora of however suggests that societal expectations undercut the speaker’s personal wants

Question 6

analyse the quote ‘printed directions of sex’ from Wants

Answer 6

suggests mundanity, tame, rule-book to follow
- sex feels almost like a chore; even in the most intimate moments to the speaker, there is pressure but no emtion
- reflects societal pressures to be intimate

Question 7

analyse the quote ‘family is photographed under the flag-staff’ from Wants

Answer 7

• ‘family’ contrasts adult life of ‘invitation cards’ and ‘sex’ suggesting that all parts of society and life, even tender and innocent ones, are pressured by society
• speaker is critical of family life, as a photograph captures a fake perception of reality, suggesting a contrived happiness (speaker doesn’t believe a happy family is real)
• ‘flag-staff’ mocks the expectation that everyone takes part in society through having a family and being proud of their nation

Question 8

analyse the quote ‘artful tensions’ from Wants

Answer 8

• suggests the speaker is undertaking a balancing act, and does not act on his true desires
• connotations of being sly, crafty, manipulative; suggests people don’t initially see that they may not want to partake in all these norms. may also suggest that society distracts us from death (nihilistic perspective)

Question 9

analyse the quote ‘costly aversion’ from Wants

Answer 9

implies that by not accepting our own mortality, we don’t fully engage with life

Question 10

analyse the quote ‘beneath it all, the desire for oblivion runs’ from Wants

Answer 10

• shift from ‘beyond’ reflects the suppression of the speaker’s real desires
• emphasises the inevitability of death as it undercuts social obligations, therefore the speaker sees the conformity as meaningless
• ‘oblivion’ suggests our natural condition is of isolation and, given the disappointment and suffering inherent in existence, what we yearn most for is non-existence; a desire for anything other than solitariness and death is an illusion
• weary vagueness and curt dismissiveness suggests life both confines us (we wish to go ‘beyond’) and weighs heavily on us (we have to dig ‘beneath’)