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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
  • Essay length: 1134 words

'The Hunchback in the park,' was a poem written by Dylan Thomas based on reality.

Extracts from this essay...


'The Hunchback in the park,' was a poem written by Dylan Thomas based on reality. When he was a boy, he used to go to the park, and would always see this lonely old man, whom he then wrote this poem about. The poet has looked at the theme of isolation in an intriguing way, solely looking at one specific person's isolation from the community, looking at the way he lived, and was mocked by strangers. Also the half rhyme used throughout the poem creates a sense of melancholy. The opening stanzas involve no punctuation and the lines seem to run into each other. This pattern is continued throughout the rest of the poem. In the first couple of lines in the poem the poet described the hunchback as a 'A solitary mister,' We can already imagine that the man is isolated from the community and therefore spends many of his days with his own company, banished to the park. This suggests that the hunchback is always left in isolation and that no one is bothered to care about him.


He is left waving his newspaper which contained his bread. Here is the poignancy. The poet evokes our pity through the image of him standing waving, trying to regain some dignity. Throughout the poem the poet explains the taunts that the hunchback goes through made by the oblivious children "Laughing when he shook his paper" The ignorant boys don't understand the mockery they are making of the hunchback and the effect it could have on his emotions as they don't understand because they are unaware at that age. A contrast of the hunchback and freedom is mentioned in the second stanza by the poet. "Drinking water from the chained cup That the children filled with gravel In the fountain basin where I sailed my ship" In this part of the poem the poet tries to convey the idea of the hunchback being dehumanised because of his deformity and being part of the scenery like the trees and bushes. This is a contrast of the hunchback who's trapped within his body and the image of freedom is given off.


. It may be that the hunchback he had one to look after him, 'A woman figure without fault,' Someone just perfect who could stay a keep him company after the 'locks and chains.' Probably this woman was his saviour, someone who could help him escape from his torturing reality. To him she was perfect. All he really needed was love and devotion from someone and he thought that this 'woman figure' was it. Throughout the poem the reader has extracts which help convey the loneliness and isolation felt by the hunchback in the park. Thomas has conveyed this mans isolation from the normality of a community very well. He has shown and described how the man is like a feature to the park, who Is mocked and marred daily by those who expect to see him. Someone who can no longer interact with others, rather than when it is him being scorned. Thomas excels in making the reader pity the hunchback, and showing the true extent of his unhappiness and differences, using a variety of splendid phrases to create the surreal and sad atmosphere surrounding this very isolated man.

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