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Skirrid Hill- Theme Capitalism - Coggle Diagram
Skirrid Hill- Theme Capitalism
Mametz Wood
CONTEXT: War= trying to gain something like money or land. Once it's over, people are just chucked away and not remembered. Soldiers are being used like raw material. Their sacrifice benefits empires and not themselves.
"And their jaws, those that have them, dropped open": trying to talk but powerless, being controlled by others and don't have a voice in the actions that they want to do. Voice has been taken away
"for years after the farmers found them": temporal marker, suggests land has just gone back to being used to gain profit. The battle that was on that field has been forgotten about.
"chit of a bone, the china plate...": reference to items, dehumanises them, reducing them to objects
"their skeletons paused mid dance- macabre": they have been paused while economic activity carries on. Shows who is prioritised.
"wasted young": raw materials, being used to gain something
The Farrier
CONTEXT: Humans are changing what is natural for their own benefit. You shoe a horse so they can walk quicker, meaning they can work more efficiently.
"awkward in her new shoes": lack of sympathy, shows greediness. Bad to impose manmade stuff on nature yet they are blinded by this due to the desire to want profit.
"knackered car": reference to transport, horses are used for work only.
"Blessing himself with his apron": presents work as a ritual, suggesting this labour is his identity. The farrier defines himself through his trade, shows he has got lost within the capitalist society.
Late Spring
CONTEXT: They are castrating lambs (stopping reproduction) for their own benefit, to keep them in control and reduce fights. Taking away the natural process of birth.
"It made me feel like a man": paradox, made him feel like a man yet he was emasculating another male. Shows he is doing it for his benefit. "made" suggests he no longer feels proud of his actions. Puts a negative view on what he is doing.
"Hard orange O-rings from the plastic bag": handmade objects, unnatural and are exploiting the animals.
"Like a cello": The simile objectifies the animals. They are being used. Alternatively, he is using the use of art to describe them, could be a positive view.
"Into a delicate purse": reference to money, implies what they are doing this action for. "A strange harvest of the seeds we'd sown": paradox as the seeds imply growth yet they are the removal of the testicles and tails. "harvest" implies the money that they will earn from what looks like seeds (growth) to them but are actually a removal for something else (sheep).
"So when I": benefits the human rather than the animal
The Equation
CONTEXT: Shows the split jobs this man has to work to survive in a capitalist society.
Structure: teacher job comes first, suggests it is the most important and effective to survive. Alternatively, the farming job takes up more stanzas and therefore could be viewed as the more important job to him.
"and how he dug" and "to draw out a leaking fist": could emphasise how much he is struggling. "dug" implies a lack of food and "leaking" implies something is broken. Shows the struggle to do what you love in a capitalist society.
Title: suggests experience can be measured and solved. Reflects a capitalist mindset where value is determined through logic, numbers and outcomes, rather than feelings.
This poem tries to make sense of experience through order and structure, aligns with capitalism's preference for control and order and efficiency rather than emotion.
Service
CONTEXT: All about the show they put on for the customers, never considers the feelings of the workers.
Title: instructions, giving people orders on how to live their lives (like capitalism)
"theatre" and "submarine": both give a sense that it is presented like a show, all perfect and wonderful. Behind closed doors, it is more about manual labour and hard work. Shows what capitalism is really focused on, about giving a good show to gain money. None of the workers get the credit, only the restaurants name (the owner).
"a fag, deeply drawn": shows that capitalism pollutes the air and damages nature.
"Like coins on the eyes of the dead": only having money will kill you. A criticism of capitalism.
"waiter presents a bottle like a new-born baby": things that are expensive get treated as valued and something that is of great significance. Shows that the price of things determine how important they are.
"His father takes a water his son, a flute of champagne": shows that the younger generations are being taken over by materialism.
List of jobs near the end: helps support the economy. You are identified by your job. What you earn is seen as more important than who you are as a person.
The Fishmonger
CONTEXT: A man trying to sell fish to survive.
from the Hungarian original..: he getting credit from someone else's poem, like how the fishmonger takes all the credit away from the fisherman- criticises capitalism.
"The engine-stroke of his heart": robotic, he is part of a machine. Shows that capitalism dehumanises people.
"Pushed to fight": survival of the fittest. Their is an instability of his job. Its not enough to survive in a capitalist society. All about who can make the most profit.
"But like a tree hit by lightning": simile, the natural part of him is damaged (kindness). To survive in a capitalist society you must be brutal. Not about the emotions you feel, only strive for the money.
3 similes about food: suggests he is doing this job to survive. The brutality stems from a need to eat.
Killing nature to gain a profit. "slice" and "cut": brutal imagery.
Stitch in time
CONTEXT: Man moves away from family to gain more profit. Thinks the money is more significant than family.
"just 15 years old": highlights the vulnerability. Emphasises how important this money is to him.
"And so ten years later": temporal marker. Such a long time suggests he was so caught up in capitalism, never felt like he had enough. Repetition of "and" emphasis how receptive and boring it is. He has lost what is beautiful in the world, been taken over by capitalism.
"He brought her back to show her the life": only cares about what he has been successful in. Doesn't care about his family. Wants to boast about how well he has done (greed). Love is not as significant to him. Superficial.
"Which he'd cut his life": although he is now seeing the beauty of the world and changing his opinion on capitalism, the greed he had in the past has permanently damaged him and scarred him. Shows how dangerous capitalism is.