Miss

In a conversation with Irwin, Posner starts it with “Sir, I think I may be homosexual” using hedging twice ('think’ and ‘may be’), which shows that he is not sure of himself.The modal auxiliary verb ‘may’ being used to not because Posner is unsure but rather because he finds difficulty in admitting that he is a homosexual, because is not yet sure that he is (sexually confused). The juxtaposition of the certainty of Posner’s next statement “I love Dakin” implies to the audience that Dakin is the only boy he was ever attracted to, and that is the cause of his homosexuality. This creates pathos for Posner, who longs for someone he cannot have. Posner’s subsequent use of interrogatives about his own sexuality reinforces the idea that he is confused about what he is “is it a phase, sir?” His use of the word title “sir” to Irwin shows the audience that he has acknowledged that he is talking to a teacher about his sexuality, which deepens the pathos created for Posner, who could not find anyone else to turn to. In the statement “some of the literature says it will pass”, Posner reveals his characteristic of being submissive and turning to whatever authority he can find for help every time he has a problem. The use of the abstract noun “literature” emphasises this because it shows that he has searched other people’s opinions on his own situation to resolve it. The use of the modifier “some” implies that Posner found that some literature did not say it was a phase and became even more confused. Posner’s reflective personality sees himself criticise himself constantly, with “I’m a Jew. I’m Small. I’m, homosexual. And I live in Sheffield. I’m fucked” being the summation of his low self esteem. The use of the colloquial expletive “I’m fucked” encourages the idea that Posner is not hopeful of his future, which creates a bathos for the audience, Posner being so knowingly pathetic that it becomes comical. The repetition of “I’m” shows how Posner is self centered and thinks about