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Q. COMPARE THE WAY THE
CHAINSAW VERUS THE PAMPAS GRASS AND
A LEISURE CENTRE IS A TEMPLE OF LEARNING TREAT THE THEME OF IDENTITY.
Identity is being who one is. In the poem
“Leisure Centre”, Sue Boyle makes the reader believe
that the poem is a sensual description of a woman that is being watched by
twelve people. However, the girl is being
crafted to perfection; in a manner it doesn’t portray a realistic image of a
woman but an artificial one. She is being prepared and is taking part in a
ritual. As the poem developed it showed difference between surface and interior
beauty. In “Leisure Centre”, the main character has
concealed identity. In the way the girl is never her
true self but being prepared for what society wants of her as a woman. There
are no male characters in the poem, although the “twelve” could be considered
as male. In the poem “Chainsaw
vs. Pampas”, the Pampas has a collective identity
representing women’s society. The identity of the Pampas is not hidden understood
by how the Pampas can’t be cut and has to be burnt, and
then it comes back next year. There is no double
meaning in this aspect the poem shows the reality of the Pampas personality
which is a strong, fighter and beautiful image. The Chainsaw is a metaphor for men
they are shown aggressive and powerful at the
same time vulnerable as they can’t defeat women who seemed vulnerable in
comparison. The pampas is not vulnerable but
vigorous and defiance. At first the literal meaning of both poems hide the true
meaning of each poem, Simon Armitage gives the impression that the poem
is about a gardener taking out an old chainsaw and working on the garden in “C vs P”. Whilst Boyle in the poem “Leisure”, gives the
impression that the poem is about a girl caring about herself. Both poems target society, in “C vs P” is what society
has tagged both genders with, used as a critic to try and change the ideas about both genders. Whilst Boyle shows how
someone can become obsessed to become perfect. Concluding they are similar
in the way that both have a male gaze either the twelve
or the chainsaw and that they stereotype
women.
In the poem “Leisure Centre”, the poet uses strong descriptive imagery with a
desirable and sensitive lexis whereas in “C vs P”
Armitage uses exaggeration and sexual language for the description of the
images. The use of “honey” as the
second word in the poem “Leisure Centre”, creates
an effect of sexuality. It connotes golden skin, exoticism, sweetness and
desirability. Language such as, “every part that might be loved” suggest how
insecure she is and how the poem is preparing the audience for a possible attack from someone like the “twelve”. The
girl is living to other people’s expectations containing her true identity. The
poem has references to the Bible by the mention of fruits
(In the bible : apple, pomegranate , berry… are mentioned) .Berries such
as “raspberries”, where easily propagated but the
cultivation involved extensive vine training and pruning. This symbolises the
girl being more outgoing and approachable at the same time saying the “twelve”,
are experts that help her form herself. Moreover it suggests fertility
and the idea of temptation. The “twelve”, could
be the twelve disciples trying to repeat the message of Jesus to everyone.
Alternatively, it could resemble back to
Buddhist believes where they recognise twelve causes of existence linking back to
the identity theme. The audience can think the twelve
could be a group of people on stage during a drama who comment and observe the
protagonist in this case the girl. As in “Leisure Centre” ,where there is use
of sexual language “C vs P”, uses language as “ Bloody desire” and “ grinding
his teeth”, to create an idea of physical
strength related to men. Yet in “C vs P “, is
the audience who comment on the two genders and not an
insider of the poem like in “Leisure Centre”. Genders in “C vs P” are exaggerated
by imagery to dramatize it
.Crucial to the audience is understanding
is the way the poet uses hyper-masculine imagery to represent the chainsaw .The poet tries to link angry, masculine activities to
the language for the description of the chainsaw. “Knocked back a quarter pint
“, refers to alcoholism and the society concept of masculinity. It is important
for the audience understanding of the poem that here men
are shown as a tool to be efficient for work representing old general gender roles. On
the other hand the descriptive language of the Pampas is being
hyper-feminised. The use of “ludicrous”,in “ludicrous feathers “, shows a tone
of mockery toward the female. The Pampas is “stealing the show”, with its
“cushions”, this shows how elegant and extravagant nature is. Nature is the
women and this is shown as a pretty, still and looking for purpose object. There
is a turning point where the Pampas becomes a fiercely and strong image with “spears”,
impossible for the man to take it down “like cutting at water (…) with a knife”,
and with the last remedy of burning it. Next year it will come back. This shows
how women are already defending themselves and feminism is stronger that the audience can consider. In terms of language and
imagery both poems have women under threat. There is an attacking position from the chorus to the girl and from the chainsaw to the pampas. “Chainsaw”, has a more
positive portrayal of women with a feminist defiance
position and includes more description about personalities whilst in
“Leisure Centre”, there is objectification of
women and the description is physical.
In the poem “Leisure
Centre “, the structure is distributed into four
stanzas and three verses to show a more direct message whereas
in “C vs P” is divided in eight stanzas to develop the poet intention. At
the beginning stanza of “Leisure Centre”, there
is hardly any punctuation with only a semicolon and a full stop in
five verses. It purpose is that the reader catches a sense of flow and
runniness to resemble to the imagery of the honey. As
it goes on from stanza three to the end there is
more use of punctuation, it strives to set a rhythm. It creates an effect of a heartbeat that is pounding
louder and quicker from the nervousness and
anxiety she is obtaining from that uncertain threat she will have at the end of the poem.
The girl can’t be tranquil and it makes it difficult
to show her true identity as she is concerned in
performing her ritual and she is under a warning. The poem being this short
makes the message of different beauty layers and social pressure more direct. The
poem of the “Chainsaw” , is divided in eight stanzas. The punctuation
throughout the poem is constant until the last two stanzas.
The last two stanzas in order to show that overall
view from the two genders and the future the poet uses more punctuation and creates a rush effect. The
first three stanzas are about the Chainsaw, then the other three are about the
Pampas .Pampas has thirty-three verses and the chainsaw has 29 verses in total
this shows how the pampas is slightly empowering over the chainsaw. It isn’t
exactly in equality. A larger poem helps the audience
get to know more each character and find different meanings to the poem. “Leisure
Centre” , speaks of only one character throughout the whole poem. This helps
the audience focus more on her and the meaning of it, whilst in “C vs P”,
having two different characters dividing the poem makes it more aggressive as
the reader has to remember both things to compare one and other. Both
poems have more wording at the beginning that at the end, and have an increase
in rhythm towards the end.
In conclusion Armitage intention was to criticise society for
exaggerating stereotype versions of each gender using
the gardener to show how society unfolds. Identity
is defined by society and he tries to challenge this by
representing individual strength and voice.
Boyle intention was to show that beauty tricks
people and that identity should be more than the outer surface. Boyle shows the importance of loving oneself with their
flaws, in order to not being obsessed to succeed to society ideal of beauty. In
her poem, identity is being oppressed by the society surrounding and
doesn’t let the individual live with its own imperfections and thoughts. On
reflection for both poems, identity is shown to be controlled by someone else
but the individual.
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