In her poem Father and Child Harwood insightfully explores the universal struggle

with identity essential to the process of maturation. This is clear in Barn Owl
where a child usurps patriarchal authority by taking a gun and killing an owl.
Harwood establishes a voice of innocence in the persona through the iambic
trimeter and an ababcc full rhyme scheme which, accompanied by the short
sentences and monosyllabic words as she symbolically rose, blessed by the
sun, reflects the universal experience of simplicity during childhood. Indeed, the
juxtaposition of horny fiend and angel mild illustrates her internal struggle
with her irreconcilable dichotomous identity- constructs often imposed on the
female archetype. Her inability to subscribe to these and her resultant conflict is
seen by the theft of her fathers gun, a phallic symbol assuming the role as
master of life and death and killing her femininity symbolised by the owl.
Ironically becoming a wisp haired judge suggesting wisdom, contrasted with the
synecdoche of the owl as beak and claw suggesting her lack of knowledge, the
complexity of maturation and developing ones identity is characterised by
paradox . As her first shot struck, initialising the maturation process, the
accented monosyllabic words aurally illustrate the abruptness of the adult world
and her resultant disempowerment shown through the fallen gun. By witnessing
the visceral imagery of the owl tangling in bowels, resulting in her weeping for
what [she] had begun, she is paralleled with Eves from the Eden of innocence,
highlighting the essential correlation between coming to knowledge and the
displacement of ones identity.
When studied in conjunction with Nightfall, I found that the notions established in
part one were further developed, enabling me to understand how the process of
reconciling the complexities of the adult world can ease the acceptance of
mortality. It is the stark contrast between the full rhyme and daytime in part one
and the half rhyme in Nightfall, symbolic of approaching death that illustrates
the recognition of realitys complexities, revealing the complementary function of
the diptych. In the biblical allusion to death as the long-promised land, and
Shakespearean intertextuality of King Lears ripeness, indicating a reconciled
father-daughter relationship, Harwood reflects the post-modern style and
acceptance of the fractured nature of reality. This is reinforced by the recurring
oxymorons, describing the ancient innocence of the stick thin comforter
following the discussion of the metaphor of the sun as a symbol of transience,
showing the understanding that such complexities are natural processes. While
Trigg notes that the powers ...of reconciliation rest with the protagonists parent,
it is shown through the personas imperative command to let [them] walk ...as if
death had no power that she has reconciled with mortality and her father. This is
then recognised by the father and solidified by the allusion to Lear through the
question Be your tears wet? Thus, through the unification of night and day
suggesting death as eternal sleep contrasting with the grotesque images of
death in Barn Owl, it is seen that reconciliation can truly ease the acceptance of
mortality.