my father would not show us Flashcards
(8 cards)
brief summary
the poem details what is going through the speakers mind when they look upon their dead father. they regret their father hid his illness. they wish their father was there to teach them how to deal with the grief of there own death.
context
most of Kok’s work focuses on political and social issues surrounding south Africans apartheid. However she has also written more personal poems about love and loss
there is not much in the public domain about Kok’s relationship with her father but nonetheless the poem captures an experience that is universal
analyse the line
“my fathers wry smile, his half turned face”
“wry smile” - suggests the speaker wants to remember their father as a happy person full of life and wit
“half-turned face” - this foreshadows the fathers separation from from the family as he tries to disguise his death
analyse the line
“he lay inside, he lay”
“lay” i a passive verb so the repetition of word draws attention to how the father has changed and lost his liveliness
analyse the fist two lines
“my fathers face”
“five days dead”
the harsh sound of the fricatives and plosives mimics the speakers shock at seeing their father dead
the speaker has also been tracking the time since the death portraying her fixation on it
analyse the line
“half-expected his inverted face”
the word “half” encapsulates their struggle to acceptance
the word “inverted” highlights how the death has turned the speakers life upside down
analyse
“my father could not show us how to die”
“he turned, he turned away”
the stanza echos one before it but the change of the word “would” to “could” suggest that they no longer blame the father accepting that he couldn’t put his family through the pain of watching him die.
“turned” shows intention and protection while “hid” implies shame and cowardliness
structure
the poem is chaotic, fragmented into stanzas of varying lengths and there is no rhyme scheme all this contributes to a sense of panic and confusion
