Boland: The Famine Road

Question 1

What attitudes are described in the text?

Answer 1

Dismissive and disparaging attitudes.

Question 2

What narrative is intertwined within the poem?

Answer 2

The humiliation of infertile women and the enduring struggle of women against oppressive systems.

Question 3

What universal theme is presented?

Answer 3

The universal theme of suffering at the hands of heartless individuals.

Question 4

What concept is emphasized?

Answer 4

The interconnectedness of individual struggles and societal injustices.

Question 5

5 quotes

Answer 5

“Idle as trout in light, colonel Jones”
“Cunning as housewives, each eyed- as if at a corner butcher – the others buttocks”
“This Tuesday I saw bones”
“Sick, directionless they worked; fork, stick were iron years away”
“Take it well woman, Keep house”

Question 6

Analysis of “idle as trout in light, colonel Jones”

Answer 6

Technique: Simile
Effect: Suggesting his detached, passive indifference to the Irish people’s suffering. The peaceful natural image ironically contrasts with the horror of famine, highlighting the British government’s inaction.

Question 7

Analysis of “cunning as housewives, each eyed- as if at a corner butcher - the others buttocks”

Answer 7

Technique: Simile, grotesque imagery, dark humour
Effect: Starvation reducing people to cannibalistic, survival-driven behaviour.
Loss of humanity and dignity

Question 8

Analysis of “this Tuesday i saw bones

Answer 8

Technique: Blunt, minimal diction
Effect: Starkness. “Bones” evokes death and starvation, while the specific “Tuesday” highlights how routine the suffering became.

Question 9

Analysis of “sick, directionless they worked; fork, stick were iron years away”

Answer 9

Technique: metaphor, symbolism
Effect: Exhaustion and futility. The “fork” and “stick” symbolise basic survival being unattainable. Metaphor - harshness, coldness, and an unreachable future, intensifying the sense of hopelessness and deprivation

Question 10

Analysis of “take it well woman, keep house”

Answer 10

Technique: Imperative tone, symbolism of domesticity
Effect: Reflects condescending, patriarchal silencing of women’s pain and reduces women to a domestic role, mirroring how both personal and national suffering are ignored or controlled.