From The Journal Of A Disappointed Man

Masculinity

Motion presents disillusionment as pervasive to society, emphasising the prevalence of this emotion by depicting disillusionment as present in two opposing forms of masculinity – the archetypal working-class male as symbolised by the men, and the more educated, middle/upper class man of the persona. 

Disillusionment and futility

An existential poem focussing on uncertainty in life. Motion interrogates traditional constructions of masculinity through a juxtaposition of physical labour and intellectual detachment, and as a broader social critique the entire social class system and structure of society.  

Detachment and alienation

Alienation (both physical and emotional permeates the poem, manifesting in both the speaker’s psychological detachment but also his physical estrangement from the social world he observes. 

Structure/form

• The poem is made up of eleven 4 line stanzas, quatrains, which presents a regular and formulaic structure. This rigid stanzaic structure could be representative of a lack of social mobility within society – just as the poem is contained by a quatrain form, the men are similarly confined by the stereotypes of society.
  (contradiction between the regular stanzas and assumption of logical progression with the lack of progress)

• The enjambment between lines shows the work continuing, with no finite end point or completion. Just as the poem continues flowing onto the next line, so does life. The monotony of their existence

• First person perspective, and form written like a journal entry creates a personal and introspective tone, aiding the theme of reflection or observation. Hints at a private struggle, perhaps with masculinity or identity. Effect of beginning the first line with ‘I’ and ending the final line with ‘me of course’ creates an insular environment - persona left with only their thoughts

‘A disappointed man’

• ‘disappointed’ signals not just personal dissatisfaction, but a deeper existential failure to find meaning or fulfilment - a disappointment in societal structures and futility of life 

• After observing the men's inability to finish the task, lack of completion/reward or fulfilment in a broader sense that extends beyond solely their work to also their lives and place within society. The persona blames society and the class system as a reason why we are unable to solve our own problems in life  

• short blunt syntax echoes the barrenness of emotion that it describes. Ambiguity of ‘man’ could allow him to become representative of anyone in society, everyman figure - broader social concern?

‘I watched them’

• Perhaps imbues the persona with greater power, they are reduced to passive objects of the sentence rather than the subjects 

• ‘them’ presents a perhaps homogenised view of the lower classes. Presentation of two contrasting types of masculinity 

• Contrastingly, this physically and emotionally detaches the persona from the men. This is extenuated through distance between the first person pronoun ‘I’ vs collective ‘them’ at opposing ends of the line - thus creating a private, introspective space to distance the speaker from human interaction

‘Left… still in mid-air’

• Just like the pile, the men are left hanging in an existential limbo, feeling unsure or untethered in their own identity. Just as the pile is left ‘swinging’, the men are also not grounded. This is underscored by the enjambment between this line (‘that left/the pile still in mid air’), where the poem flows continuously with no finite end point or conclusion to their efforts.  

• The impact of leaving the ‘pile still mid-air' places it in a liminal space, acting as a metaphor for the indeterminacy and transience of human life. The speaker could be acknowledging the ephemerality of existence or human indeterminacy through the way the ‘pile’ is suspended with no direction or purpose in a space between the pier and the sea

• Shows that both types of men experience a sense of futility and uncertainty, yet we still continue to separate and hierarchically rank society, classifying ourselves into different groups. That is the ultimate reason why the metaphorical pier (a manifestation for the structure of society) is unable to be fixed, as the human race is bound by material wealth and deeply engrained stereotypes. The poem shows all members of society face the same issues – physically as neither group will be able to use the pier, as they are unable to fix it, but emotionally as all the men lack a sense of purpose – that can only be solved if they overcome the lack of communication and empathy. If not, the pile (as a representation of a solution) will continue to hang ‘still in mid-air', close but just out of reach.

‘Pile into the pier’

• Plosive consonance of repeated ‘p’ sound constructs a harsh phonology that emulates not only the rough physical work that the men complete, but also how this is annoyingly futile 

• Piers are structures that don’t go anywhere. They are also remnants of the Victorian and Edwardian eras, a period of remarkable feats of engineering, expressive of a broader confidence in progress (could suggest that this social stratification appears archaic and out-dated)

• The setting of the ‘pier’ is used by Motion as the nexus of his presentation of disillusionment, as a pier is a structure that leads to nothing, thus representing the futility and lack of completion in more existential terms 

• The task of fixing a pier could be symbolic of futility, as piers lead nowhere – perhaps mirroring the way in which the work they complete feels as if it has no finite end-point or no practical importance. This poetic device reflects the sense of futility in existential terms by acting as an extended metaphor for life’s efforts that go to waste, in the same way in which a pier leads nowhere. 

• The pier also can be alternatively interpreted as a concrete manifestation of social order or the structure of society. Therefore, the image of the men not being able to fix this could be reflective of the fact that society and social norms are in need of repairing/updating. The current societal structure (symbolised by the pier) is not beneficial to anyone, resulting only in feelings of loss and futility, as it is unusable and leads to nowhere.  

• The fact that the lower class men are working to repair a pier (an entertainment or leisure facility for upper class Victorian society) exposes how the foundations of society and ease of the wealthy is dependent upon the labour of those lower in social class than themselves. These ‘powerful’ men are the stoic machinery that supports humanity, also notable that they are embodying the traditional masculine archetype, showcasing once again how stereotypical society is. Their abandonment of the pier could be the working class men’s rejection of the social hierarchy, and a move towards social change. They are no longer wasting their efforts to aid the upper class’ leisure 

‘Monosyllables’ ‘paraphernalia’

• The working men are associated with a lexis of physicality in a functional, brutish manner – characterising the archetypal view of lower class men. This divide between the classes is exemplified most explicitly through their manipulation of language, where the persona (who is perhaps more socially superior) employs educated, polysyllabic vocabulary such as ‘paraphernalia’, which expose an intellectual understanding, whilst the working men converse in a blunter syntax - ‘monosyllables’, where ‘speech is not something to interest them.’   

• This exacerbates the stereotype of the working men as being less educated, whilst simultaneously highlighting a lack of communication in society – these men barely talk to each other, and ‘ignore’ the persona. Perhaps a reason for society’s struggles is due to a lack of communication and empathy