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Violence In The Gun Poem

Decent Essays

TASK: Explore the methods the poet uses to present violence in the poem. Throughout ‘The Gun’ the poet uses numerous methods to convey her changing attitude towards the violent themes associated with bringing a gun into a household as she becomes more acquainted with the new weapon and it acts as the gateway between power and pleasure. Immediately in the first line we are brought to a sudden emphasis on the word “changes,” the pause in the poet’s voice created by separating the sentence into two lines perhaps indicating to some degree the uncertainty and mixed emotions that she will display towards the change in dynamic the gun instigates in her household – this uncertainty is later elaborated on as the violence changes in nature along with …show more content…

“Soon” there is no lack of violence in the house, the word implying that the downfall is quick and unforeseen but undisturbed as the writer seems to have fully committed herself to it and its commands; the animals killed are no longer individually identified but rather referred to as “creatures”, varying between those who have “run and flown,” showing how there is such a great volume that they no longer individually matter – they together represent the ruthlessness with which she now kills and the lack of care towards this blurring of moral lines. As the “fridge fills” we see that there is an evident danger described about the ease of losing oneself in this violence which has overpowered the earlier atmosphere which seemed to reject the idea of a gun’s presence – it seemed out of place, whereas now it has become part of the routine. By describing their actions (“run,” “flown,”) the poet also shows us the development of the violence as compared to earlier when there was little animation in the gun’s victims, showing how she has moved past the point of compassion to a brutal indifference to the lives she is ending. There is clear reference to the subtle imprints the gun leaves on the user – “your hands reek of gun oil and entrails,” is a line which while seeming like a criticism out of context reads as a mark of pride in the stanza, something which creates an addiction discernable by onlookers. This could almost be seen as ‘marking territory’, showing how the user of the gun has allowed themselves to become part of this convoluted

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