Detailed, A* level information - themes, context, structure and language analysis for 'The Gun' by Vicki Feaver from the 'Poems of the Decade' anthology.
Themes Literary/Dramatic Devices Techniques of whole poem
Masculinity and ‘the gun’ – quantative, specifics increase significance - Lexical field of words related to
power – gun ‘bringing a gun… changes it’ – fronted verbs show responsibility death that permeates poem
‘house / changes it.’ – enjambement, unnatural break, simple declarative sentence… emphasises it’s a house not a home - Cyclical structure
power are life ‘you lay it’ – accusatory Life/death intertwined
and death, ‘like something dead’ – foreshadows death, animalistic simile Adds to normalising comfort of
woman ‘polished wood stock’ – emphasised object/man made item, plosives reflect material and forcefulness gun
complies ‘jutting’ – aggressive action of gun, antithesis of surroundings and gun = feminine ‘kitchen table’ Life after death
‘grey shadow’ – ominous colour, contrasts ‘cloth.’
‘perforating tins/ dangling on orange string’ – forceful verb, adjective, decorative enjoyment yet vulnerability
Death – animals ‘then a rabbit shot’ – stark/unexpected – unemotional killing
and death of ‘soon the fridge fills with creatures’ – alliteration mimics sense of fullness and increases pace
speaker’s ‘run and flown’ – freedom taken (past tense)
‘trample/ fur and feathers’ – violent, gun rubs off on them, alliteration contrasts gun with by emphasising softness
morals ‘sex was fresh’ – highlights hunting images of sexual arousal
‘A gun brings a house alive’ – still a ‘house’, irony of weapon of death creating aliveness, dehumanising link to grotesque
Conflict – tries visage of fresh meat
and fails to hate ‘I join in the cooking: jointing ’ – shifts to herself more aligned with this idea? Caesura jams flow, impact on house and
nature
the gun ‘slicing, stirring and tasting’ – sibilance emphasises harshness
‘King of Death’ – Hades personified, normalises death. Patriarchy, stereotypical how he controls the female domain as
well
‘winter woods’ – gothic idea of death approaching
‘golden crocuses’ – vivid yet deceptive flowers (poisonous) by normalising gun (it tricks them)
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