With close reference to ONE poem, analyse how Hughes presents animal life.
Animal life is presented through contrasts between the jaguar and other animals in Ted Hughes Poem “The Jaguar”. The poem depicts Hughes observation of nature in action with animals that have been taken from their natural habitats and put in a zoo. He does this by illuminating the attributes of the other animals in contrast to the Jaguars’. Hughes does this indirectly as it can be inferred that the jaguar has a high status in comparison to the other animals as the Jaguar is described more than the other animals.
Hughes displays the nature of the animals in a zoo by using anthropomorphism to portray the lethargic movements of the apes, lion, boa- constrictor, tiger and the parrots in comparison to the Jaguar’s energetic, wild movements. “The parrots shriek as if they were on fire, or strut/ Like cheap tarts to attract the stroller with the nut”. Hughes presents the parrots to be attention seeking as they have to flaunt themselves to be seen by the ‘stroller’, the effect of the phrase ‘cheap tarts’ is that the parrots creates the image that they are less important than the jaguar and the reader thinks of them as inferior. He presents the apes to be deficient by giving them human attributes to highlight the fact that they ‘yawn and adore their fleas’. The minds of the apes have been captured by something small; this indicates that they lack intelligence.
Moreover, Hughes use of language gives the insignificant animals human attributes to depict boredom and stillness in contrast to the jaguars. The other animals are not as significant as the Jaguar because they are not mentioned as much throughout the poem. Hughes focuses solely on the Jaguar to describe its actions that suggest that the Jaguar is in control although it is contained. The animals’ minds are entrapped by the bars of their cage as they have been taken from their natural environment as opposed to the Jaguar that has not let itself be confined to the dimension of its cage, instead uses its mind to escape the allurement. “He spins from the bars, but there’s no cage to him” In the jaguars mind it is still in the jungle as it is ignoring its cage. The Jaguar is superior to the other animals because it is able to focus its mind and transcend its surroundings. Because of this it can escape its cage through thoughts. Nothing can hinder the Jaguar from mentally escaping allurement as he demonstrates that his new predicament has not changed where he has come from. However, the other animals are not able to do so as their minds did not function to expand to broader things. “The eye satisfied to be blind in fire”
The Essay on What Does The Jaguar Represent In Ted Hughes's Poem "TheJaguar"?
... symbol. The Jaguar is a poem about a fierce animal from the image of which Ted Hughes unearths something ... smell of the sleeping animals. But, in front of the cage of the Jaguar the situation is different. ... their natural habitation, are put in cage after cage. Since the animals are taken from their natural habitation, ... He could be caged within the four walls of a cell but his mind will create another ...
Hughes uses literary devices such as sibilance, enjambment, metaphors and alliteration to elaborate on the contrasting natures of the different animals within the captivity of the zoo. Hughes uses an enjambment to dramatise and exaggerate the still movements of the tiger and lion. The little movement is compared to the sun and this is done by using a simile. This gives the effect of the unhurried movements they compose.
“Fatigued with indolence, tiger and lion
Lie still as the sun. The boa-constrictor’s coil”
Exhaustion and lethargy are depicted throughout the animal’s movement. The natures of these animals appear lazy and inactive as opposed to those of the jaguars. These animals are normally quite fierce and fearful but in the poem they are portrayed to be harmless. ‘It might be painted on a nursery wall’. This shows that they are cartoon like as opposed to the Jaguar who has kept his fierce trait despite the change in environment. The jaguar is more complex and they are simple to him.
Hughes uses a metaphor when he says “The boa-constrictors coil/ Is a fossil…” The word ‘fossil’ suggests that the animal is old and lacks life and that it is lifeless as it is barely moving. Adversely, the Jaguar is described to be “On a short fierce fuse”. Hughes use of alliteration emphasises the Jaguar’s temperament and that it can switch at any moment. A human attribute is given to the Jaguar as it seems to making its own decisions and choices. Similarly, Ted Hughes does this in “Hawk Roosting” the zoo animals can be compared to the helpless animals that the hawk preys on. The hawk cannot change because it has been created like that. Both the jaguar and the hawk are not going to change. The jaguar will keep its character even if it is confined. “The world rolls under the long thrust of his heel”. Hughes use of the word ‘long’ suggests determination.
The Essay on Langston Hughes Mother Harlem Poems
LANGSTON HUGHES Bibliography In 1902, Langston Hughes was born in Joplin, Missouri. He grew up in many different places such as Kansas, Illinois, and Ohio. His birth given name was James Mercer Langston Hughes. Later he dropped the first two names. Mary Patterson Leary Carrie Mercer Langston Hughes, Langston s mother, was a schoolteacher. Langston s father, James Nathaniel Langston Hughes, was ...
As the poem progresses the other animals are not noticed as much as they were in the first stanza. “Cage after cage seems empty, or/ Stinks of sleepers from the breathing straw.” The only evidence of their existence is the stink emanating from the cages. The use of alliteration emphasises the putrid smell in which the animals produce. Hughes use of repetition emphasises that every cage is empty. It could be implied that the animals in the brain dead because Hughes uses word ‘seems’ and ‘empty’ as they are physically in them but the animals were not lively enough to be recognized, instead they are shown to be not as momentous as the Jaguar. The nature and qualities of the Jaguar are acknowledged more by the onlookers as the “crowd stands, stares mesmerized,” this degrades the importance of the other animals.
The structure of the poem has 4 lines per stanza. Each line of the poem starts off with a capital letter. There is assonantal rhyme in the first stanza ‘strut’ and ‘nut’.
To conclude, Ted Hughes uses literary devices, language and structure to present animal life in a zoo by illuminating the attributes of the other animals in contrast to the jaguars’. In Hughes observation it inferred that the Jaguar is his main focus as he acts like he is still in the wild, as opposed to the other animals that have been accustomed to the life of the cage. This trait that the Jaguar has kept shows its significance.
The Essay on Dreams Deferred Hughes Dream Poem
Dreams Deferred The poem, A Dream Deferred, by Langston Hughes, accurately and descriptively portrays the attitudes of African American people during the mid 1900 s. Hughes expresses the possible responses of African Americans to their dreams being deferred by means of metaphors and similes. The first thing the reader needs to do to understand this poem is find out what a dream deferred means. ...
