Up the Wall Notes
UP THE WALL
WHAT THE POEM IS ABOUT - portrays domestic life in a suburban setting - stresses the tensions of that life as experienced by a wife and mother – her life is tedious and filled with petty crises - she finds no joy in her children, who are murderous in their behaviour, she feels “so alone” because she cannot have company because of them - in contrast her husband, who escapes this drudgery and turmoil in the home, thinks that the neighbourhood is “too quiet” - poem closes with the differences between husband and wife unresolved
SUMMARY - every day is the same, full of drama and trauma - she has no comfort from anything, even the talk back radio - the mothers voice is heard repeatedly, which each of her statements being a cry for help - because her cries aren’t answered we can see that she really is “so alone” - her husband is totally oblivious to her suffering and interprets life in the suburbs entirely differently - “the matter ends” without the couple resolving anything
STYLISTIC POINTS - in the form of a sonnet, with 14 lines - highly ordered form of poetry is very ironic because the circumstances being described are disorder and dysfunctional domesticity - onomatopoeia in “shriek” and “screamed” - simile “like the horizon” - metaphor “scalpels of their din” (din = noise) - direct quotation from unnamed woman shows her suffering - use of 3 exclamation marks suggests a voice and a personality at breaking point - poem ends with phrase: “the matter ends” o this is ironic because the matter (of family disorder) is not resolved, even though the sonnet is complete
ANALYSIS - in the form of a sonnet, ending in a couplet which rhymes, giving the poem a sense of completion - the last 6 lines contain dialogue ( ironic because the dialogue indicates the lack of dialogue “there is no one around here I can call” “I’m so alone” - no dialogue between husband and wife representing the failure of
WHAT THE POEM IS ABOUT - portrays domestic life in a suburban setting - stresses the tensions of that life as experienced by a wife and mother – her life is tedious and filled with petty crises - she finds no joy in her children, who are murderous in their behaviour, she feels “so alone” because she cannot have company because of them - in contrast her husband, who escapes this drudgery and turmoil in the home, thinks that the neighbourhood is “too quiet” - poem closes with the differences between husband and wife unresolved
SUMMARY - every day is the same, full of drama and trauma - she has no comfort from anything, even the talk back radio - the mothers voice is heard repeatedly, which each of her statements being a cry for help - because her cries aren’t answered we can see that she really is “so alone” - her husband is totally oblivious to her suffering and interprets life in the suburbs entirely differently - “the matter ends” without the couple resolving anything
STYLISTIC POINTS - in the form of a sonnet, with 14 lines - highly ordered form of poetry is very ironic because the circumstances being described are disorder and dysfunctional domesticity - onomatopoeia in “shriek” and “screamed” - simile “like the horizon” - metaphor “scalpels of their din” (din = noise) - direct quotation from unnamed woman shows her suffering - use of 3 exclamation marks suggests a voice and a personality at breaking point - poem ends with phrase: “the matter ends” o this is ironic because the matter (of family disorder) is not resolved, even though the sonnet is complete
ANALYSIS - in the form of a sonnet, ending in a couplet which rhymes, giving the poem a sense of completion - the last 6 lines contain dialogue ( ironic because the dialogue indicates the lack of dialogue “there is no one around here I can call” “I’m so alone” - no dialogue between husband and wife representing the failure of