On Her Blindness - Adam Thorpe

Suffering

Disability is made only more difficult by the world’s refusal to face the suffering and struggle that it entails – making it exceedingly difficult to bear this stoically. The wider world is only interested in the inspirational stories of persistence rather than this darker experience, which is frightening for many able-bodied people to face. His mother, of course, is just as helpless in the face of her blindness. All she can do is pretend she can see better than she can, so as not to make the people around her uncomfortable. Argument that disabilities are not only physically challenging but also emotionally exhausting  

Loss

Thorpe’s portrayal of blindness is imbued with a sense of grief for the diminished capacity to perceive, not just in the physical sense but also in the emotional and relational spheres—where sight is often a metaphor for clarity, understanding, and connection. This theme of loss is not simply a passive acceptance of absence; rather, it reflects a fragmentation of self and identity, where the blind subject, unable to navigate the world with the same ease, becomes a figure both physically and metaphorically displaced from a world she can no longer fully inhabit.

Identity

Through crafting a portrayal of blindness, there is a consistent imagistic focus on eyes and seeing – references the perception of society on individuals – the fact that we are constantly watched, judged and expected to fulfil certain expectations. Highlighted as cruelly ironic by the fact that his mother is unable to see – and therefore cannot see how she herself fits into these social stereotypes/conventions expected of her. This results in her identity feeling untethered  
Thorpe portrays blindness as both a physical and emotional trial within familial context, grounded in personal experience and societal understanding 

 

Structure/form

• Thorpe utilises blunt syntax and short sentences (e.g. in the title), where the economy of language mimics the barrenness it describes. He engages in a succinct and open presentation of blindness, creating a quiet, everyday tone that reflects the real nature of her emotions. (his informal and colloquial diction contrasts what is traditionally considered to be poetic - challenges the established notions of what, or who, is considered worthy of poetic reverence)

• Whilst the poem is written in free verse to suggest some form of self expression, it is structured rigidly and meticulously into couplets. This regulation appears uniform and predictable upon the page, perhaps as a representation of the homogenised expectations of society that dictate how individuals with disabilities feel that they can act. These social conventions require the persona’s mother to keep her grief subdued and restrained. This challenges Milton’s ideology of ‘Roman’ stoicism, by admitting bluntly the challenges that his mother faces through her affliction with blindness. 

• Thorpe also restrains from using intricate rhyming schemes or rhetoric to stylise his poem, signifying the loss of beauty and lyricism in the mother’s life, thus identifying how completely harsh her life had become 

• Thorpe structures his poem in couplets (with the only exception being the final line), which creates a visually fragmented appearance upon the page. Enjambment between these stanzas renders the borders of the line fluid to lend itself to a tentative reading - a reflection perhaps of his mother’s tentative navigation of society. Meanings and phrases are dislocated - untethered identity, creates an unsettling effect representative of his mother’s both physical and emotional disorientation. (however couplets traditionally thought of as representing a pair, emotional bond)

‘Bear being blind’

• The plosive consonance of the opening line immediately reinforces this discomfort and anger, by using the alliteration of ‘b’ sounds to create aggressive phonology symbolic of the harsh reality of blindness.  (either the discomfort and struggles of the mother, or alternatively a reflection of the emotions of the poetic voice - persona’s anger and frustration)

• ‘Bear’ is a homophone of ‘bare’, which has connotations of vulnerability and the identity struggles that she faces through her suffering.

• informal, contradictory to what would traditionally be considered poetic or socially normalised - redefines notions of what is worthy of poetic reverence

• Bluntness of the phrase, with its succinct simplicity and blunt syntax, reflects the harshness of the condition and brutal reality of a life without vision. the fact that this is the opening line establishes the theme of suffering throughout
  (The economy of language and short diction reflects the barrenness that it describes. ‘Bear being blind’ utilises monosyllabic syntax to present a blunt, succinct presentation of blindness, and the harsh truths of such a struggle. Thorpe does not attempt to use intricate rhyme scheme and rhetoric to stylise his poems, signifying the loss of beauty and lyricism from his mother’s life)

• structural progression of ‘blind’ from the opening line, and ‘watching’ in the final line

‘One should’ ‘one shouldn’t’

• Repetition of modal verb ‘should’ underscores the inescapability of the societal views and expectations that shape the way people with disabilities feel that they can act, which aids the perpetuation of suffering.  

• This can be seen through the internal commentary of the narrator, ‘one shouldn’t say it’, exemplifying how painfully aware the family is to the expectations of society. This blindness to her own identity and freedom of expression leaves his mother feeling untethered and at a loss within the world. 

• As the poem focusses on blindness, there is an inherent theme of eyes and seeing – referencing this perception from society on individuals. His mother is constantly watched, perhaps judged, or at least expected to conform to the social archetype of a blind woman. This semantic field of vision is highlighted as cruelly ironic by the fact that his mother is unable to see, yet everyone is able to see her – symbolic perhaps of the way she cannot see how to fit herself into the social stereotypes dictated by society.

‘She is watching somewhere, in the end’

• This final line is sadly ironic, as his mother is obviously physically unable to see, yet the final image we have of her is ‘watching’. This highlights a cruel contrast (persona’s pain at the loss of his mother) - however may also suggest that through death, his mother is freed from the social and physical constraints of her blindness. ‘Watching’ can no longer be a literal action - and instead this introduces a sense of transcendence, where the boundaries between the corporeal and the ethereal dissolve. 
  (structural progression from ‘blind[ness]’ in the opening line to ‘watching’ in the final line semantically enacts this liberation of his mother from the physical and social struggles of her disability)

• However, it does craft a portrayal of suffering as being able to provide clarity on the most important things in life – which are not necessarily tangible. His mother does not have to be able to see what is valuable to her to experience it, for example her son’s familial love cannot be materialised, as this is an abstract concept and not something that even those with their vision can identify.  

• The poet therefore could use this image as a message to society to show the importance of relationships in life, particularly to those who are suffering

‘Bear it like a Roman’

• Thorpe criticises the notion of having to ‘bear it like a Roman.’ This image of ‘Romans’ is used as a form of social commentary to express the historical and outdated nature of stoicism within society.  

• He alludes to the philosophical tradition that emphasises the perceived virtue of suffering without complaint and how this is a deeply engrained archetype 

• He explores the impact of society onto people’s suffering, and how environments are constructed that are not beneficial to individuals like his mother. repetition of 'bear' from earlier in the poem, his mother is not living or experiencing the beauties of life, she is merely trying to 'bear' it

‘Ablaze with colour’

• Encourage readers to use their imagination to create an even more vivid description of vision – creating a tragic irony that contrasts to the mother’s blindness. ‘Ablaze’ suggests an overwhelming sensory experience – the world of vibrant colour exists, yet it is inaccessible to her }
  (heightens the intensity of the visual world to intensify his mother’s sense of exclusion)

• Pathetic fallacy of autumn and decay of life creates a paradox of life and death 

On his blindness

Allusion to John Milton’s famous sonnet ‘On his blindness’, suggesting that some pains can’t be alleviated  

Both Thorpe and Milton explore how societal and internal expectations shape the experience of suffering, but where Thorpe portrays this as restrictive and identity-erasing, Milton presents a more structured and resolved response to affliction.