H English 'Brooklyn Cop' quotes

Brooklyn Cop - Title

* Slang for police officer, less respectful - connotes sleaze
* Negative connotations of colloquial term
* Dangerous, potentially violent life

Themes

* Dehumanizing nature of violence (violence is common)
* Isolation/emotional detachment/duality/conflict
* Inevitability of violence
* Danger

Stanza 1 quotes

* ‘Built like a gorilla but less timid,’
* ‘thick-fleshed, steak-coloured’
* ‘two hieroglyphs in his face that mean trouble’
* ‘walks the sidewalk and the thin tissue over violence’
* ‘when he said, “See you, babe” to his wife’
* ‘he hoped it, he truly hoped it.’

‘Built like a gorilla but less timid,’

* Simile demonstrates policeman’s size and physical potential
* Imposing figure with a formidable presence
* lack of intelligence, potential for violence
* Gorillas in themselves are already not timid, this emphasises the sense of threat

‘thick-fleshed, steak-coloured’

* Size, physically tough, dehumanizing, emotionally strong/strong will power
* Pink face/skin, showing race and maybe alcoholism or weight
* Comparing the man to meat, something raw and uncompromising, possible connotations of blood and violence

‘two hieroglyphs in his face that mean trouble’

* Metaphor for the policeman’s eyes. Presents his eyes as symbols that are difficult to read. Instead of his eyes showing inner emotion they only mean one thing - trouble
* Additionally could suggest scars, indicative of violence. Or old deep set eyes

‘walks the sidewalk and the thin tissue over violence’

* Metaphor - shows the barrier to violence is delicate and therefore fragile, showing the policeman could easily descend into violence
* Alliteration & assonance - sounds like tearing, emphasises fragility
* This tells us that violence is never far away in the streets that the man patrols - like tissue, peace is fragile, delicate and can tear at any moment
* Creates strong contrast to ‘thick-fleshed’, suggesting the importance of the cop in preventing the thin tissue of civilisation from ripping open into disorder

‘when he said, “See you, babe” to his wife, he hoped it, he truly hoped it.’

* Colloquial language the cop uses sounds cliched and thoughtless. However, the rest of the phrase shows the vulnerability that his role in society brings
* Repetition ‘hoped it’
* Stresses the danger of his environment, hinting at desperation and contrasting with the casual dialogue between the policeman and his wife.
* Makes the reader feel empathy for the cop’s vulnerability

Stanza 2 quotes

* ‘He is a gorilla’
* ‘to whom “Hiya, honey” is no cliche.’
* ‘Should the tissue tear, should he plunge through/into violence,’
* ‘what clubbings, what gunshots between Phoebe’s Whamburger and Louie’s Place.’

‘He is a gorilla’

* Juxtaposition with the vulnerability of ‘hoped it’ - empathy clashes with the idea that he is violent and threatening
* Repeats the gorilla image - this time instead of a simile a metaphor is used making the comparison stronger as he is no longer like a gorilla but is one

‘to whom “Hiya, honey” is no cliché.’

For him this is a genuine loving greeting to his wife. He is truly grateful to make it home safely each day, and is grateful for the solace that can be found at home

‘Should the tissue tear, should he plunge through/into violence, what clubbings, what gunshots between Phoebe’s Whamburger and Louie’s Place.’

* Long sentence structure reflects the range of possibilities and challenges that the policeman may face at any given moment
* Repetition of what suggests uncertainty - the possible violence the cop faces is unknown. Also demonstrates to the reader the severity of the violence that he has to face

‘Should’

Repetition of a modal verb - suggests possibility, not guaranteed - creates uncertainty

‘Should the tissue tear’

* Extended metaphor - reiterates the likelihood of violence
* ‘tear’ WC - suggests sharp pain
* ‘tissue tear’ alliteration - creates a quick phrase that implies a sudden act

‘should he plunge through/into violence,’

* WC ‘plunge’ - implies that violence can be abrupt and uncontrollable
* Enjambment parallels of plunging and new line

‘what clubbings, what gunshots,’

* WC ‘clubbings’ - brutal, painfully slow, personal, visceral. Suggests strength of the police officer
* WC ‘gunshots’ - colder, detached, almost certain death, a singular action rather than repeated

‘between Phoebe’s Whamburger and Louie’s Place.’

* These locations are not glamorous and sound cheap, even dodgy and could be places where criminals hang out.
* ‘Wham’ in Whamburger could be used to suggest violence as it has connotations of a comic book punch
* The language helps root the poem in New York. ‘Whamburger’ has American connotations and in American speech it is fairly common to refer to a building as someone’s place

Stanza 3 and 4 quotes

* ‘Who would be him, gorilla with a nightstick, whose home is a place/he might, this time, never get back to?’


* ‘and who would be who have to be his victims?’

‘Who would be him, gorilla with a nightstick…?’

* RQ - appeal for empathy
* ‘nightstick’ refers to the baton he carries and re-enforces his vulnerability against the power of the clubbings and gunshots that are referred to in the previous stanza
* The nightstick suggests a more basic and direct physical violence than a gun might
* Contrast/juxtaposition - conflicting reader response, empathy followed by reminder of threat

whose home is a place/he might, this time, never get back to?

* RQ - designed to challenge the reader to consider whether or not they would be able to do his job
* Parenthesis ‘this time’ - reminder of risk and how frequent and unpredictable the danger is

‘And who would be who have to be his victims?’

* WC progression ‘would’ to ‘have’ - writer corrects himself from a possibility to an inevitability
* RQ - consider utility, value and effectiveness of law enforcement