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Ordinary Life - Coggle Diagram

- - - - showcases how mothers lose individual expression through having children, and devoting all their time to them instead
    - - 'young mothers assemble' shows how they've lost individuality and have become a sort of army, uniformity
      - 'unripened acorns' symbolise the life that the women could've had if they had not had children, showcases their potential that was never fulfilled
      - 'wedding, lying' showcases how their marriage was built on falsities, and domesticity is not as romantic as it is made out to be
      - 'something has pushed them to the side of their own lives' - Larkin is critical towards the women for taking such a conventional route, he thinks they are stupid
    - - Larkin was overtly critical of marriage, as he regarded it as a 'revolting institution' (Larkin)
      - this is perhaps due to his own parents' loveless marriage, which drove his mother, Eva Emily Day, to attempted suicide
      - this is why he never settled down, and once entertained three women at once
      - Larkin was an 'easy misogynist' (Jardine), and indeed in his diary he says that 'as far as I can see, all women are stupid beings' (Larkin)
    - - focuses on women but is far more critical than Duffy, who is sympathetic
    - - Larkin is very critical of ordinary life, as he 'presents himself as a less deceived observer of contemporary life' (Naremore), he believes those that take conventional routes of life are beneath him
  - - - comments on how faith and joy can be found in every aspect of ordinary life, yet also how the patriarchy affects all women
    - - 'some days...some nights' highlights the tedium of ordinary life, it is neverending
      - 'the sieve' shows that happiness can slip through hands easily, it is not easy to have happiness in ordinary life. 'sieve' is also a kitchen utensil, showcasing how women are restricted to domesticity, and are trapped there
      - 'pray for us now' is an excerpt from on of the most important catholic prayers, highlighting her childhood. However it also uses collective pronouns 'us' to suggest that ordinary life is universal
    - - Duffy grew up catholic but became an atheist, and is perhaps critical of how people rely on religion in ordinary life
      - she has turned to prayer, saying that 'poetry and prayer are very similar' (Duffy), because ordinary life is too tedious without an outlet
    - - Duffy is far less critical of women, as she is sympathetic with their struggle.
      - Duffy does not criticise women for their choices, like Larkin does
      - use the symbol of 'sieve' just as Larkin used the symbol of 'acorns'
    - - Duffy's work 'doesn't have the cynicism of Larkin' (McRae)
      - she is more hopeful and sympathetic to the universal struggles of ordinary life
- - - - Larkin criticises normal, ordinary people who try to ignore death, as he is very scared of it
    - - uses the symbol of a thread to show the commonality of ordinary life, and the 'loosening' of it symbolises the end of life
      - 'come to rest at any curb' also shows the universality of death, indiscriminatory nature of ambulances and death, amplifies need to pay attention to it and fear it
      - 'light glossy grey' shows three stages of life that come in quick succession, with life ending very quickly
    - - Larkin was very preoccupied with death, and the inevitability of it. Indeed, Lewison suggests that 'human experience is measured against the inevitability of morality'
      - Indeed, when Larkin died he said 'I'm going to the inevitable', shows his content at finally experiencing what he had feared all of his life
    - - Highlights how people do not focus on what matters, in Larkin's view
    - - Larkin believes that all people should worry about death like him, indeed Heaney suggests that 'Larkin is daunted by both life and death'
      - Larkin himself suggested that 'everyone tries to ignore the passing of time' (Larkin), which he showcases with this poem.
  - - - Duffy satirises and criticises how people focus on material goods rather than what matters in life, such as their marriages
    - - 'catalogue' is akin to a Bible, showcasing how the women treat their consumerism as a sort of religion
      - 'Pyrex' is emphasised by it having its own sentence, with pyrex being a glass that supposedly can't break. However, it could be when pressure was applied or it was dropped. This was akin to the marriages of the women, which are fragile
      - The quick succession of the goods in the beginning highlight how temporary they are, they provide fleeting joy and respite in replacement for real joys
      - 'cellophane' covered the appearance of the 'polyester' shirts, just as the women's superficial happiness covered the fragile and cheap marriages
    - - The religious connotations of the catalogue 'bible', juxtapose the focus on material goods to reflect the social change in the latter half of the 20th century from religious to consumerism
    - - both poems criticise people for focusing on things that don't matter very much
    - - Litany showcases how Duffy 'presents disappointed figures' (Cash) who do not value what matters
- - - - A poem that utilises an external narrator to criticise everyday people who ignore death
    - - use of anaphora in 'for...for' helps to bind different peoples in the universality of life
      - the narrator describes 'nations' as 'vague', showcasing his god-like nature, likened to a human looking upon ants. He presents himself as superior and 'a less deceived observer of contemporary life' (Naremore)
      - the plosive alliteration in 'building, benediction' emphasises a sense of disgust, and the meaningless in activities like this that stall death. Indeed, Heaney says 'Larkin is daunted by both life and death'
      - 'the day...hours' shows that time is running out
    - - Larkin is preoccupied by death, and suggests that everyone should be as worried as him
      - he feels contented when he finally reaches death, the thing he has always feared, as he says 'I am going to the inevitable'
      - he criticises the subjects in the poem as an internalised fear of death
    - - both utilise an external narrator to showcase their separation from ordinary life, for good or bad
    - - Larkin says that 'everyone tries to ignore the passing of time', and so he showcases it in this poem
  - - - Uses an external narrator to show the exclusivity and glorification of ordinary life
    - - the whole first stanza is a rhetorical question, showcasing the insecurity and disillusionment of the narrator
      - use of synaesthesia helps to amplify the confusion of the narrator, as she does not intimately understand ordinary life, yet wants to
      - the mention of a 'kiss' introduces an element of voyeurism which makes the ordinary domestic life seem especially exclusive and romantic, amplifies pity for the narrator who is without an ordinary life
    - - Duffy has a positive view of childhood, likening it to a 'long greenhouse, where everything is growing' suggesting a romantic view of growing up and ordinary domesticity
      - This is why 'Duffy has an optimism which Larkin did not' (Randolf) because Larkin had a negative view of childhood, saying 'I wasn't a happy child' (Larkin)
    - - uses an external narrator to highlight the positive nature of ordinary life
    - - 'it doesn't have the cynicism of Larkin' (McRae)