Larkin and Duffy- Materialism

Materialism

Materialism- Larkin: The Large Cool Store, Sunny Prestatyn, essential beauty Duffy: Litany, The Captain of the 1964 Top of the Form team 

Thesis

both- explore materialism by highlighting how society and individuals are obsessed with possessions, status, appearances.

Larkin - critiques social and consumerist values with irony

Duffy examines the emotional and cultural impact of material obsession on identity.

P1 Superficiality and Desire for Status

Both - critique superficial desire of status

Larkin focuses on consumer culture

Duffy on personal and societal pressure.

• Larkin – Sunny Prestatyn : Consumer goods, glamour, and advertising create illusions of status and happiness, masking emptiness and monotony.

• Duffy – The Captain of the 1964 Top of the Form Team: Achievement and recognition are tied to social validation and material success, but fail to provide fulfillment.

P2 Facade vs Reality

Both poets show materialism as a superficial façade

Larkin emphasizes social illusion

Duffy personal and emotional concealment

• Larkin – Essential Beauty: Billboards and advertising promise perfection but conceal the dull reality of life.

• Duffy – Litany: Lists of achievements, possessions, or societal markers create a façade, masking emotional truth and authentic identity.

point 1 analysis

sunny Prestatyn - see image vs reality notes

captain - The poem follows a speaker who looks back on his childhood as a high-achieving, celebrated student he is praised and defined by his academic success, which brings status and recognition. However, as an adult, his life is ordinary and unremarkable, suggesting that these early achievements did not lead to lasting fulfilment.

Duffy critiques a society that equates success with worth, however in this poem this is not the case

“the clever smell of my satchel”

• “Clever smell” turns intelligence into a performative signal, suggesting status is based on how success appears rather than what it is.

• The “satchel” symbolises achievement as something carried and displayed, linking identity to external validation.

• The sensory, fleeting “smell” highlights the superficial and temporary nature of status, implying it doesn’t last or satisfy.

Link: Carol Ann Duffy critiques a desire for status built on surface-level impressions rather than genuine fulfilment.

“I want it back” - Volta, aggressive and desperate, can’t move on past youth as he believed he was promised success - materialistic? due to his popularity, carves validation of others

“all the answers. zzz” anticlimactic, doesn’t know anything or who he is without the validation.

Sees materialism and validation as success - Duffy comments on the hollowness and desparity behind this

“stale wife” “thick kids” unhappy, unfulfilled