Love Love Love; Sylvia Plath

My absolute favourite poet!

The recorded readings of her Ariel poems on YouTube are spine chilling! These are the words to an oral I presented to my year 12 English Studies class:

Write the words to an oral presentation where you discuss your thoughts regarding the emotional impact of the ideas explored by one of the core poets studied in class.

Artists carry the world on their shoulders; they feel acutely the anguishes of society and the harshness of nature. This is especially true for poet Sylvia Plath. As a confessional writer, to read her poetry is to gain an insight into her character, her soul. It is an extremely personal experience. Plath expertly uses imagery, combined with clever metaphors to express her oppression, her suffering at the hand of men and her struggle to find herself, the immaculate wife and mother, or the artist. The thematic concerns of her poetry, expressly childbirth, oppression, domestication and madness, often lend to feminism, and as such have significantly influenced and promoted the cause.

Plath is universally known for her explicit use of holocaust imagery, especially in her Ariel poems ‘Daddy’ and ‘Lady Lazarus’. She often parallels her personal pain and torment to the unjust persecution of Jews by the German soldiers. Her persecutors in these poems are her father and husband, and by extension all men. Plath’s poem ‘Daddy’ is perhaps her most vengeful of men, she writes:

Every woman adores a Fascist,

The boot in the face, the brute

Brute heart of a brute like you

Plath’s repetition of the word ‘brute’ conjures up a negative connotation of men (the Fascist), an image of intimidation. Her use of alliteration of the letter ‘b’ echoes the sound and motion of a boot in the face – symbolising dominance.

Many of Plath’s poems are pessimistic and clearly illustrate her feministic nature. Perhaps the best example is her poem ‘Mushrooms’, wherein she uses subtle metaphor to link the growth and population expansion of mushrooms to the struggles of women in the 1950’s to overcome the restraints of the role of ‘housewife’. Imagery and metaphor is paramount in this poem. She parallels the mushrooms to women, giving human qualities ‘toes and noses’ and ‘soft fists’ to the mushrooms. Noses and toes are dainty, and often thought of as womanly, fragile. Issues of domesticity are also present in the poem. She writes:

We are shelves, we are

Tables, we are meek

Here she objectifies women, giving them little importance. They are useless objects, living on the ‘crumbs of shadow’ of their husbands, fathers. Plath utilizes this technique for a similar purpose in many of her later poems, for instance, ‘The Applicant’. She compares women to ‘a living doll’, and goes on to say ‘it can sew, it can cook’. The personification of the doll is particularly effective; challenging the roles of men and women in a patriarchal society. She writes:

Here is a hand

To fill it and willing

To bring teacups and roll away headaches

And do whatever you tell it

The woman is objectified, a domestic hand to serve the man. She is referred to as ‘it’, the woman has no individuality, no identity, she is ‘naked as paper to start’. The woman is vulnerable, ‘I notice you are stark naked’. This poem acutely demonstrates the way in which women are objectified in her society, and treated as though they are merchandise.

In many of Plath’s poems she presents protagonists of personae who are passive and depersonalised, often helpless. Women are often objectified – dolls, mannequins, stones – inanimate objects. They are the ‘reflection’ of the male-defined ideal. Her poem ‘Mirror’ exemplifies her ideas pertaining to female passivity – her own conflicted self-identity caused by social pressure to adopt a domestic life and her desire to pursue her writing as an individual. She writes:

I am silver and exact. I have no preconceptions.
Whatever I see, I swallow immediately.

The mirror is the personification – reflection – of herself. As a mother (or woman) her imposed obligation is to reflect man and infant - a passive servant. This image is also presented in her poem ‘Edge’:

The moon has nothing to be sad about,

Staring from her hood of bone.

She is used to this sort of thing.

Her blacks crackle and drag.

In this poem, the moon serves the same purpose as the mirror. Traditionally, women are connoted with the moon and men with the sun. The moon relies on the sun to give it light, thus women are reliant on men.

In the second stanza of ‘mirror’ the mirror has transformed into a lake, a terrible fish lurks in the darkness beneath the surface. Plath writes:

In me she has drowned a young girl, and in me an old woman
Rises toward her day after day, like a terrible fish.

The fish symbolises her rejection of the role of mirror – her refusal to present herself as the image mirrored in the male’s eyes. Each day her conviction of her own self-identity cultivates.

Ultimately, however, I feel she finds liberation and triumph over the oppression of men in her life. With vengeance, she writes, at the conclusion of ‘Lady Lazarus’:

Out of the ash

I rise with my red hair

And I eat men like air.

The woman has risen from the dead (her submissive state) like the legendary phoenix – men mean little to her now; she is her own individual woman. No longer does she bow to the whims of her oppressors, she has a new sense of empowerment. Plath urges all women to break free of the chains of domesticity, enumerating in her poem ‘Mushrooms’:

We shall by morning

Inherit the earth.

Our foot’s in the door.

Plath is hopeful for the future of women in society and evokes this triumph in her readers. Ironically, however, she ended her life by her own hand but a year before the feminist movement began. Sylvia Plath’s intelligent use of imagery, personification and metaphor combine to create particularly significant and moving poetry. I can relate exclusively to her poetry, not only heartrending poems, but also those which are euphoric. As a woman, even in today’s society, I identify with Plath because I know that in the near future I myself will struggle with a similar ultimatum: motherhood or career.

Thomas and Dickinson

Another essay! A comparison between the poetry of Emily Dickinson and Dylan Thomas, both excellent in their own right. Two of my favourite poets!

In a series of sequential paragraphs, explore the various ways that two poets write about similar ideas.

Death is a universal phenomenon commonly portrayed in literature, the treatment of which is as diverse as the novelists or poets themselves. Emily Dickinson and Dylan Thomas are two such poets who extensively explore human morality and by extension the nature of existence, in their poetry. Their philosophy regarding these themes, however, lay on opposite ends of the spectrum. Dickinson paints a rather noble, romanticized image of death, personifying it in ‘Because I Could Not Stop For Death’ as a perfect gentleman with impeccable manners. Thomas, however, diverges from this traditional religious interpretation of death, portraying the ‘dying of the light’ as a destructive force, dissolving men into madness. His depiction of weather cycles and natural components, however, suggests that he acknowledges it is a desperate struggle against an event which is inevitable.

Dickinson and Thomas paint a very different picture of death and spirituality in their poetry. Dickinson writes as though death was a supremely personal affliction, often from the point of view of a person from ‘beyond the grave’ as in ‘I Heard A Fly Buzz When I Died’, in which a family surrounds a loved one’s deathbed, grieving. They are waiting “For that last Onset-when the king/ Be witnessed-in the Room-” (7-8). The oxymoron ‘the last Onset’, ‘last’ denoting ‘end’ and ‘onset’, ‘beginning’, implies Dickinson believes in a life after death. The king is a symbol of God or death, indicating a belief in religion. Thomas shares her belief in a god, and hence an afterlife of some unknown nature. This is evident in his poem, ‘And Death Shall Have No Dominion’. He explains that, though a person’s “bones are picked clean and the clean bones gone,/ They shall have stars at Elbow and foot”. He urges that we have no reason to fear death if we have faith: “And Death Shall Have No Dominion”. However, we can not assume his image of God is of that of a civil gentleman, as Dickinson depicts in ‘Because I could not stop for Death’. This is a traditional, religious image of a god and contrasts greatly with the god, or ‘life force’ Thomas describes in ‘The force that through the green fuse drives the flower’. Thomas portrays an invisible force which drives his 'green age', a force which has power to both give and take life. This force is nature, contrasting greatly with Dickinson's sure religious ideology. Thomas believes he is part of the cycle of nature, from birth to decay: 'The force that drives the water through the rocks/ Drives [his] red blood'. However, he is “dumb to tell’, he can not comprehend this natural life force which all living things share. Although the thematic concerns of their poetry are similar, their interpretation of death and the afterlife is intensely diverse, Dickinson portraying a traditional religious vision of death, and Thomas a distinctly pantheist view.

Another theme which is often expressed in the writing of both poets is the cycle of one’s life. In the third stanza of ‘Because I could not stop for Death’, Dickinson explicitly communicates her views regarding death, a natural progression of life.

We passed the school, where children strove
At recess, in the ring;
We passed the fields of gazing grain,
We passed the setting sun.

She describes a carriage ride in which she is escorted by death, a journey from life to death and ‘eternity’. The imagery of “the school, where Children strove/ At Recess, in the Ring” implies childhood and youth. The ‘Ring’ is reminiscent of the cyclical nature of life. She then passes the “fields of Grazing Grains,” symbolic of adulthood, both fertility and hard work. Finally, they pass “the setting sun” which represents age and the passing of time; the beginning of the end of her life. Dylan Thomas also shares this vision; evident in all of his poetry is the cycle of decay and rebirth, none more so than in his poem 'Fern Hill'. Represented by the 'green grass', in his youth he is innocent and free, the innocence of the 'Garden of Eden' forming an association with the 'apple boughs'. The passing of time is illustrated by the flowing rivers and stars turning overhead. He describes adulthood as an awakening. A biblical allusion referring to 'Adam and Eve' is employed to describe the acquisition of knowledge and end of innocence. Finally, in the last stanza a 'green and dying' man is illustrated, rife with regret of his wasted childhood. Although he 'sung in [his] chains like the sea', he could not escape the 'force' and died, raging 'against the dying of the light'. Although the cyclical nature of life is present in the poetry of both Dickinson and Thomas, each has a different view concerning the actual death of one’s earthly body and spiritual afterlife. Both however accept that one can not escape death.

Many people fear death, it is often seen as a tragic end to one’s life and hence much time, effort and money is invested in prolonging life. Dylan Thomas seems to share this fear of the ‘unknown’ and in his poem ‘Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night’ he urges all men, those who are wise, wild, grave or good, not to go quietly, but struggle with a fiery intensity. Conversely, Emily Dickinson is accepting of death, as expressed in ‘Because I could not stop for Death’. Her acceptance of death allows her to calmly lay aside her 'labor and [her] leisure too’ willingly accompanying death to her grave, despite the fact that she may have things she still wishes to accomplish. She describes her grave, an image which usually carries a negative connotation, as ‘a house that seemed/ A swelling of the ground’. In her poem ‘Drowning is not so pitiful’ she advises us not to resist drowning, or fight death, rather allow it to take us gently. She reminds us that though we fear death, our ascension to heaven is assured and that we will face 'the maker's cordial visage'. Her religious belief allows her to overcome her fear of 'drowning'. To resist is 'pitiful' and shows only a lack of faith. In this, the greatest contrast between the beliefs of Dickinson and Thomas is created. Whilst Dickinson suggests we calmly accept the ‘light’, Thomas urges us to ‘rage, rage against the dying of the light’, a mysterious and eternal darkness.

Death, life and immortality are major thematic concerns of both Emily Dickinson and Dylan Thomas. However, their interpretation of death differs greatly. Whilst Thomas seems engrossed in a struggle with death and immortality, Dickinson prefers rather to accept death politely and proceed with faith into the hands of God. Both poets, however, acknowledge that death can not be escaped regardless of one’s approach; it is an inevitable event in the cycle of decay and rebirth.

The Trapeze Swinger, Iron and Wine

The lyrics, the symbolism, the harmonies... brought a tear to my eye

Hamlet; Shakespeare's greatest

In this essay I have attempted to deconstruct Shakespeare's Tragedy Hamlet, which is in my opinion his greatest. Though not usually a fan of his 'fluffed-up' Tragedies, it is the exploration of human nature through the complex character of Hamlet which appeals to me.

Bearing in mind Shakespeare’s characterisation of Hamlet, discuss your thoughts regarding how successfully Hamlet deals with his challenges and uncertainties in the play.

Prince Hamlet of Denmark is perhaps the greatest and most complex dramatic character ever constructed. The protagonist of Shakespeare’s tragedy of the same name is intensely philosophical and contemplative, though simultaneously rash and impulsive; he is a man of radical contradictions. In his characterisation of Hamlet, Shakespeare skilfully enlightens the audience to his abstract ideas and theories, chiefly concerning the impossibility of certainty, the complexity of action and the mystery of death and the afterlife. Hamlet subsists in a world of appearances; he can never be assured that his beliefs or actions are justified. However, at the conclusion of the play, Hamlet comes to an acceptance of providence and thus triumphs his great anxiety. He successfully meets his challenges and resolves his uncertainties.

Through the characterisation of Hamlet, Shakespeare explores the concept of certainty, illuminating to the audience the uncertainties upon which their lives are built, thus extending this notion to the indistinct line between appearance and reality. Hamlet, a contemplative, learned scholar, struggles to justify his motive for revenge and thus seeks to prove the authenticity of the ghost and its accusations against Claudius. Although Hamlet desires to see Claudius brought to justice for his actions, he realizes the heavy burden of killing the king, and the consequences of such actions for the state and his own delicate mental state. Thus, in order to discover the truth, Hamlet stages a play which imitates the circumstances of King Hamlet’s death: ‘I have heard that guilty creatures sitting at a play have, by the very cunning of the scene, been struck so to the soul that presently they have proclaimed their malefactions’ (II, ii, 577-80). The presence of play actors within the play directs the audience to Shakespeare’s philosophy; life is, to an extent, like play-acting. Deceitful actions and Spying are prominent in the play, enhancing the theme of uncertainty. Polonius asks Reynaldo to spy on his son, Polonius and the King spy on Hamlet and Ophelia, the King and Queen ask Rosencrantz and Guildenstern to spy on Hamlet, and so on. Hamlet believes that ‘To be honest, as this world goes, is to be one man picked out of ten thousand’ (II, ii, 190). His constant anxiety regarding appearances and reality contribute to his uncertainty of the ghost’s accusations of Claudius, and hence his hesitancy to act on the revenge he promised his father.

Directly related to the theme of uncertainty is the theme of action. Hamlet’s ability to act is affected by, not only rational concerns, such as the need for certainty, but also emotional, psychological and moral factors. In the third soliloquy of Hamlet, the prince is reproachful of his actions, his failure to fulfil the revenge he promised his father. Filled with self-loathing, he cries: ‘What an ass am I!’ (II, ii, 584). Hamlet’s hesitancy to undertake his revenge contrasts greatly with Fortinbras who, principled and determined, displays a passionate enthusiasm to avenge his father’s death. This provides an important foil in the play. Hamlet praises and envies Fortinbras (IV, iv): ‘A delicate and tender prince/ Whose spirit with divine ambition puff'd’, and chastises himself for being indecisive and retreating into despair. Hamlet’s actions either directly or indirectly caused the deaths of Ophelia, Gertrude, Laertes, Polonius, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, and even himself. If he had simply killed Claudius whilst he prayed, the deaths could have been averted. His murder of Polonius demonstrates Hamlet’s inability to control his actions when emotionally charged. In his calm, thoughtful state, Hamlet is too beset by moral contemplations and uncertainties to avenge his father’s death, even when the opportunity is before him. Taking this into consideration, Hamlet deals with his challenges poorly; though intensely contemplative, he is also impulsive. His inability to coordinate his thoughts and actions is his tragic flaw. 

Hamlet’s indecisiveness extends further than the revenge which he has been instructed to fulfil by his father’s ghost. Throughout the play, Hamlet contemplates the nature of death and one’s individual control of fate. His fear of death, of the unknown, plays on his mind as he struggles to comprehend the complexity of his challenges and execute his revenge. Within his self-concept, he searches for answers to questions which cannot be answered by mortal men. Driven to obsession and madness over the notion of death, he contemplates the morality of suicide: ‘To be, or not to be, that is the question: Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune or to take arms against a sea of troubles and by opposing end them’ (III, I, 63-66). Having suffered grievous ‘outrageous fortunes’, notably the murder of his father and mother’s incestuous actions, Hamlet feels that only through suicide can he escape his ‘troubles’. However, on further reflection, Hamlet realises that it is the fear of the unknown which prevents men from taking such action. Men would rather ‘bear the whips and scorns of time’ then to sleep, for ‘what dreams may come’ (III, I, 69), he knows not.

However, upon his return from England, Hamlet has developed an acceptance of providence which appears to bring him great peace: ‘Our indiscretion sometime serves us well/ When our deep plots do pall, and that should learn us/ There’s a divinity that shapes our ends,/ Rough-hew them how we will’ (V, ii, 8). Hamlet’s contemplation of death and humanity culminates in Act V, Scene 1, in which Hamlet grips the unearthed skull of Yorick. This serves as a physical memento of death, forcing Hamlet to literally ‘stare death in the face’. He is reminded that death is a common human experience, no matter life’s great triumphs; all men meet the same fate. This allows him to reconcile the idea of death, and thus meet his challenges and resolve his uncertainties.

Whilst at first, Shakespeare’s Hamlet may seem a classic revenge tragedy; deeper inspection reveals a far more complex and introspective study of human nature. Hamlet, an introspective scholar, mediates on the many uncertainties the world is founded on, also agonizing on death and the afterlife. He struggles to justify the revenge he has promised his father. It is his failure to coordinate his thoughts with his impulsive actions which can be considered his fatal flaw and inevitably bring about his descent into madness, and his death. However, in fulfilling the revenge he promised his father, he was ultimately successful; though his triumph came at a great cost for all involved. 

Desiderata

Go placidly amid the noise and the haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.

As far as possible, without surrender,
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even to the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons;
they are vexatious to the spirit.

If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain or bitter,
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs,
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals,
and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love,
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment,
it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be.
And whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life,
keep peace in your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

~ By Max Ehrmann

Folk-Indie; obsession

In my final year of high-school I have found myself locked up like a hermit stu-dying more than one too many a weekend. Thus, last night's venture, first to 'The Earl of Leincester' for a meal and later a gig was a welcomed break (oh, thank you long-weekend!). No, 'welcomed' definately understates my experience.. 'incredible' will, perhaps, suffice.

The Middle East, a Folk-Indie group (of no less than seven members!) performed for a packed 'Governor Hindmarsh Hotel' last night. Musically they were moving, and sombre, and... wonderful. The talented group used a plethora of instruments to achieve their unique sound, including but definately not limited to [my musical knowledge]: guitar, keyboard, accordian, harmonica, banjo, flute, trumpet, percussion and drums.

I'll admit, when they first appeared on the stage... I thought the motley group may have been roadies or simply stage hands.. and the drummer! I was convinced he was security. Not to forget the (I guess) lead vocalists; a guy in a baseball cap whose head and 'shoulder length hair' lollied side to side like a metronome on steroids, a red-head-hippy-chick and young guy who's face, ever hidden behind a great black lock of black hair, I saw little. Though my favourite was definately the percussion guy, who, with rainstick in hand, 'Jesus-like do' and tribal-like dancing, really set the tone for the night.

Lyrically.. well okay I'll admit I couldn't really understand what was being mumbled, but their harmonies were beautiful. One song in particular appealed to me: 'The Darkest Side' quite literally brought tears to my eyes. Although I could not understand logically what they were singing about, I think maybe something in my subconscious latched on to the theme or story being expressed. The lyrics (which I searched after arriving home ..in the early hours of the morning) resonate with me completely. It was almost like the lyrics were written about mine, and my mother's life. Their debut album I Want That You Are Always Happy will very soon be making an appearance in my Itunes library.

Love. This.

Fly Away Peter - David Malouf

Fly Away Peter (1982), by David Malouf is a novel which I recently read in class.. It follows young Jim Saddler, an archetypal ANZAC, as he 'migrates' from the idylic Queensland bird sanctuary which he has made his home, to the hellish trenches of the European front of WW1. However, this is not the whole story. There are many underlying themes which Malouf has cleverly woven into the plot, or more accurately, the plot serves only to justify his ideas about human nature and essentially, the meaning of life. I really enjoyed this novel, and more so each time I read it - the mark of a good novel in my opinion. Below is my literary analysis essay I write for my yr12 English Studies exam (1000 words).

David Malouf – ‘Fly Away Peter’

“How does Malouf use a variety of literary conventions to make meaning in ‘Fly Away Peter’?”

Fly Away Peter by David Malouf is a philosophical novel, deceptively simple in plot and structure, which delineates Australia’s involvement in the First World War, not for its historical implications, but for the exploration of human nature. Through the development of Jim Saddler, the protagonist, Malouf explores the place of the individual in the mass of humanity and, by extension, the very meaning of life. The atrocities of war enlighten Jim to the duality of human nature, his confrontation with chaos allowing him to develop a new and deeper understanding of himself. Malouf’s philosophical approach to the meaning of life is effectively conveyed through contrasting setting construction, symbolism, imagery and characterization.

The duality of human nature is a prominent theme in the text, articulated primarily through imagery, symbolism and structure. Malouf explores the very best and worst of human nature, portrayed effectively in the conflicting landscapes. Queensland, the setting of the first half of the novel, is an idyllic, fertile swampland evocative of the Garden of Eden in the story of Genesis. Here, people are in balance with nature and live harmonious, orderly lives. They are largely naïve and believe the world to be mostly good and that violence is a rare occurrence. As Jim later acknowledges, this was a ‘state of dangerous innocence’.  Europe, located on the other side of the world, is an ‘old country’, ravaged by centuries of war. This is the setting of the second half of the novel; it is the reverse of ‘paradise’. The soldiers bury themselves in ‘pits’ (reminiscent of pits of hell) and are under the constant threat of attack, surrounded by the swollen corpses of their comrades. The presence of rats directly contrasts to the birds: ‘they were the familiars of death, creatures of the underworld, as birds were of the life and the air’. Malouf is brutal in his depiction of the dehumanizing cruelty of trench warfare, portraying graphic images of death and misery – the dark side of the human nature. Malouf relates this duality of nature to Imogen’s photography: ‘the light and the dark’ is necessary to develop a photograph. Humans are capable of great feats, to love, hope and imagine; however they are also capable of great evils. This concept is represented by the biplane, a ‘double-edged sword’ in itself: ‘After just a few seasons of gliding over the hills …new toys of a boyish but innocent adventuring had changed their nature and become weapons’. These ideas are central to Malouf’s philosophy, conveyed effectively through a number of literary conventions.

The violence and desolation of war threatens to destroy Jim physically and emotionally. However, despite the cruelty of war, Malouf maintains that individuals must confront and adapt to change in order to gain a deeper understanding of themselves and the wider world. This idea is conveyed through the notion of mapping, imagery and characterization. In Queensland Jim is complacent; he has ‘a clear map of everything’. This is conveyed through Malouf’s delicate description of the environment, accentuating ‘Jim’s knowledge of every blade of grass and drop of water in the swamp’. However, as is observed in his encounter with the Dunlin, his vision is narrow. Jim’s trip to Brisbane initiates his ‘fall from innocence’. The metaphor of the ‘tilting slope’ of the streets towards Europe suggests that his involvement in the war was unavoidable. Jim acknowledged to himself: ‘If he didn’t go… he would never understand, when it was over, why his life and everything he had known were so changed’. This idea is further developed in Jim’s encounter with Wizzer Green, a soldier from another company. This confrontation reveals to Jim his own capacity for ‘black anger’, ‘he needed this sudden, unexpected confrontation to see who he was’. He sensed his father’s savagery in himself, and resented it. This experience is pivotal in Jim’s understanding that ‘he had been living, till he came here, in a state of dangerous innocence’. Jim has no map for what is happening around him: ‘they never saw a map’. When Jim is under the imminent threat of death on the battlefield, he comes to the realisation that difficulty in life is necessary to gain a deeper understanding of himself and ‘broaden his view’. ‘He saw the long view of their lives’; the map he contained in his head had ‘immensely expanded’. Malouf has successfully used literary conventions to convey his ideas about the human experience.

The final chapter serves as an epilogue, perfectly capturing Malouf’s philosophical approach to the meaning of life. Imogen watches the waves, grieving for Jim; she remembers his intensity and reflects on his brutal and senseless execution. Imogen considers the significance of life: ‘That was what life meant, a unique presence, and it was essential in every creature… a life wasn’t for anything. It simply was’. This idea is central to the Novel, perfectly articulating Malouf’s attitude towards life. The waves serve as a metaphor for life: ‘[she] watched the waves, one after another, as they rose, gathered themselves, stood poised a moment holding the sun at their crests, then toppled, there was a rhythm to it’. It implies that whilst, in the perpetual nature of time, life is brief, it is beautiful and has significance, and should thus have value above all else. Malouf has conveyed, through the use of metaphor and imagery, his perspective of life and the place of the individual in the mass of humanity.

In Fly Away Peter the author uses setting, imagery, symbolism and characterisation to convey his ideas. Whilst the novel may initially appear a simple narrative about The Great War, a deeper reading reveals that it effectively explores the complexity of human nature. Malouf presents through powerful imagery the duality of human nature and his belief that one must confront difficulty in order to gain a deeper understanding of ones self. The clever metaphor described in the novel’s final chapter perfectly captures the central theme of the text – the meaning of life.

Very. Very cool.