Essay: "Up The Wall" by Bruce Dawe
Although typically journeys are perceived
to be enlightening, they can also be mundane. Dawe’s Up The Wall
explores this idea of a menial journey of everyday life. The mother is
described in a typical domestic setting “The kettles plainsong rises to a shriek”.
Plainsong, suggests an idea of the repetitive nature of the everyday journey,
how it can be tiresome at times. Dawe uses the word “shriek” to indicate a pain
and suffering of this every day journey of the mother. The mundane nature of
journeys is seen through repetitive tasks “the saucepan milk is always on the
boil”. Dawe highlights the busy life of the mother, whilst suggesting that this
busy life is menial and boring through the use of “always”, suggesting a
repetition and never changing nature of journeys.
Journeys do not always need to cause an
individual to progress or develop. This idea is shown by Dawe through the structure
of the poem .The poem uses a typical sonnet structure, with a typical rhyming
pattern. This creates a sense of common characteristics and a lack of
originality. The stanzas get shorter as they progress – this is juxtaposed to
the lack in the change of values held by the mother or the father “they laugh.
The matter ends”. This contrast highlights how journeys do not always have to
cause individuals to progress or to develop; rather they can sometimes cause
people to neglect certain aspects of their life.
Journeys are often taken alone, with little
to no help from others. This idea is explored through the contrast between the
mother and father. The mother is characterised as saying “I’m so alone”. This
lack of support is seen through the contrast in perceptions between the mother
and father “It’s a quiet neighbourhood”. Dawe juxtaposes the view of the mother
towards life as being busy and chaotic to the fathers view that life is quiet
and calm, indicating that they are not taking the same journey. Dawe thus
suggests that journeys are not always taken with others but can often be taken
by individual alone.
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