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Guiseppe - Coggle Diagram
Guiseppe
Guilt
Guilt trying to be redeemed
"Starvation forgives men many things,"
compassionate
men's actions are forgiven in desperate times
Uncle's voice
Guilt residing with the Uncle
"but couldn't look me in the eye, / for which I thank God."
guilt / ashamed
only when looking back the guilt appears
connection to reader
Guilt hidden throughout poem
conversational tone contrasts dramatic events
no rhyme or rhythm
monotone
Violence / Murder
important figures taking part in the murder
"... butchered on the dry and dusty ground / by a doctor, a fishmonger, and certain others."
"doctor"
should be curing people not murdering
"fishmonger"
specialist
"But the priest who held one of her hands / while her throat was cut,"
Catholic
Holy
Religion linked with violence
murder perceived as justifiable
"said she was only a fish, and fish can't speak."
end-stopping line
statement
justifying
animalising to feel less guilty
"They said a large fish had been found on the beach."
end-stopping line
statement
no questions asked
story told to troops
"The rest they cooked and fed to the troops."
needed for the greater good
sacrifice
Identity
mermaid not having an identity
"said she was only a fish, and fish can't speak."
end-stopping line
statement
animalising to feel less guilty
"She, it, had never learned to speak / because she was simple,"
"She,it"
changing personal pronoun to dehumanise her
first addressed as female, then alienated
uneducated
mermaid only made human after death
"Then they put her head and her hands / in a box for burial"
more human
disposable
funeral
humanised
Fantasy
the presence of the mermaid
"the only captive mermaid in the world"
"captive"
imprisoned
"only"
last of her kind
now extinct
mermaids a gentle and beautiful mythical creature
"My Uncle Guiseppe told me..."
personal
storytelling
from nephew's perspective
story presented childlike