English lit - the cockroach

‘the cockroach’

lowly and insignificant —> becomes central figure of the poem

a small creature people dislike or are scared and disgusted of

“I watched a giant cockroach start to pace”

observing —> content

attention caught —> interested

importance to the poem

distinct

personification

stressed

“skirting a ball of dust that rode the floor”

speed —> confidence

dirty

dodging

“at first he seemed quite satisfied to trace

not for long —> will get bored

something will happen

predictability

order in life

enjambed

“a path between the wainscot and the door”

confined space

“wainscot” = the wooden panelling open the wall

limits and boundaries of life —> humans are trapped

“but soon he tuned to jog in crooked rings”

volta

doesn’t realise immediately then realises

panicked now

not perfect

lost direction

impatient

“circling the rusty table leg and back”

decay and age

pointless —> no goal in life

lost

frustrated

“and flipping right over to scratch his wings”

intentional

multiplication of action

purpose of action

“as if the victim of a mild attack”

oxymoron —> danger

in danger

“of restlessness that worsened over time.”

matured —> adult —> still doesn’t understand

no answers —> worried

“after a while”

passing of time

older not so is more careful

“he climbed an open shelf”

decided carefully before acting

“and stopped.”

sudden

brutal

finality

caesura

“he looked uncertain where to go”

still lost and unsure

“was this due payment for some vicious crime”

jail time

question

karma

“a former life had led to?”

reincarnation

“I don’t know”

confrontation that the author still has no answers, much like the cockroach

“except I thought I recognised myself”

personal

realisation

identity —> from “he” to “I” is movement from cockroach to him —> gives humility to cockroach

questioning hiumself

reflection

structure and form

uses iambic pentameter

subverting the sonnet form —> Volta in line 5 but not line 9

lines 1-4 = childhood —> moves without haste —> relaxed —> carefree

lines 5-8 = growing

lines 9-11 = adulthood

lines 12-14 = identification of author