On Her Blindness Flashcards
(15 cards)
The poem’s title is a reference to a poem by ___ that portrays blindness as a test from God to “bear patiently”
John Milton (On His Blindness)
Thorpe begins his poem with plosive alliteration to immediately establish the speaker’s mother’s blunt rejection of Milton’s stoic attitude, stating that “___”
“[His] mother could not bear being blind”
The use of anaphora reflects the formal voice of society demanding that “___”, “___” and “___” to convey the taboo subject of expressing discomfort in illness.
“One shouldn’t say it.”, “One should hide”, “one tends to hear”
This expected stoicism is suggested through the simile “___”, conveying that society demands honour and bravery from those suffering.
“those who bear it like a Roman”
Thorpe’s use of parenthesis, “(___)” illustrates the difficulties the speaker’s mother faces in her blindness and the detraction it causes to her independence and abilities.
“(try it in a pitch-black room)”
The setting of the “___” juxtaposes the speaker’s mother’s incoordination as she cannot “___”, portraying her as not belonging in polite society due to the struggles of her disability.
“Paris restaurant”, “[find] the food on her plate with her fork”
Thorpe uses quotation marks to give the speaker’s mother a voice, wherein she expresses “___”. The use of end-stop emphasises the blunt sincerity of her expression of her true pain that society has encouraged her to hide.
“It’s living hell, to be honest Adam.”
The structure of the poem in ___ may represent the codependency of the speaker’s mother on the speaker through her deterioration, the final single line stanza then suggesting that her death has restored their independence from each other.
couplets
The speaker’s restrictive connection with his mother is reinforced by further use of the end-stop, as he describes himself as “___”.
“the locked-in son.”
The speaker’s mother’s deterioration is demonstrated through Thorpe’s use of dark humour, recounting her “___”. The caesura at the end of the simile emphasises the physical disruptions and restrictions the mother endures through her illness, despite attempts to cope through humour.
“bumping into walls like a dodgem;”
Deterioration is portrayed to be drawn-out through Thorpe’s use of enjambment describing the “___” of the mother’s condition.
“the long, / slow slide”
Thorpe’s use of the simile “___” perhaps dehumanises the mother as she is claimed by her condition, suggesting her identity is lost with her sight.
“vision as black as stone”
The mother continues performative displays of coping as she tries to interact with the world around her despite her blindness. Thorpe demonstrates this through the polysyndetic list “___”, “___”, “___” which emphasises the numerous ways she attempts to distract herself.
“She’d visit exhibitions, admire films, sink into television”
The mother’s loss of sight is contrasted through Thorpe’s semantic field of opulence, describing the scene as having “___”, trees “___” and a ground “___”.
“golden weather”, “ablaze with colour”, “royal with leaf fall”
The poem’s resolution suggests that the family’s attempts to comfort themselves, believing “___” is shallow, as implied by the end-stop stressing the finality of death as opposed to their assurances that her suffering is over.
“she was watching, somewhere, in the end.”
