North Light - Analysis

Plot:

The main character is a husband and father

He starts in his sons room
He examines the things around him
Main character has all of the time in the world, hes trying to work
something out
He puzzles about life itself and what keeps it together
He remembers glowing memories of working and enjoying life with his
family, again thinking of the stuff that makes the pattern hold
He remembers the sad life he used to have as a divorced, sad, frightened
drunk living away from his family in a rented room and thinks about the
complex adhesive that keeps life together
He plans his house chores
He turns on some music
He decides that the house has a northerly aspect; it is full of light

What:
The main character has obviously experienced a painful life. He used to be
a sad, frightened drunk living without a family and without happiness. He
constantly wonders at why life is so much better with his family. He finds
true happiness with his familys love, which is the theme of the poem.
A belief explored in the poem is human values, and why having a good self
consciousness is vital to enjoying life. The main character doesnt know
why he enjoys this life better than the drunken, drug fulfilled happiness he
experienced before. The author is trying to tell the audience that life cant
be completed by such simple highs, because deep down all human beings
know that they havent really achieved or helped anyone by finding
happiness in such shallow ways.
The main character believes that the stuff that holds everything
together is elusive, but comes to the conclusion that his life is being held
together by it. I believe he is talking about chaos and order. He talks about
certain examples of it as he looks around his house and recalls memories.
Clutter of books and plastic toys/ bushes growing upwards./ His wife
flapping in the circus of sheets/ bricks laid in a pattern in the yard. All
of the examples show either chaos or order, and hes trying to figure out
why order prevails in his current life. He remembers what his life was
before: hed been divorced: a sad, frightened drunk living in a rented
room. He was living a life of utter chaos. When he finishes the snapshot
he comes to the conclusion that the house is in order. He is doing work for
his family, representing order. The northerly light represents clarity or
enlightenment coming to a righteous conclusion.
The main character was emotionally distraught, but his family brought him
back to awareness and happiness again with their love for him. Feeling
loved was a key component to the main characters attitude to the
situations hed been in.
The type of love being explored is love within a family; the love shared
around through caring for each other. The place within the cycle of love
that this poem represents is arguably the middle or end. It really depends
on what defines the cycle. Does the cycle have to end with a break up?
The main character is currently being loved by his family throughout the
poem, which argues for being the middle of the cycle, because there still is
the possibility of things going bad again. It can also be argued for the end
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North Light - Analysis

of the cycle, because he has accepted his faults and learned to live and
love his family with a clear mind.

How?
How are characters used? Include their personas.
The main character is used to represent a simple man seeking happiness. His
persona is meant to portray an average man trying to live to the best of his
ability. He doesnt necessarily live a good life, but it is good in his eyes, because
he can be at peace with his emotions. The main character is experiencing simple
happiness, something that cant be bought but earned. He has a thoughtful
personality, always wondering at the small things in life that others say are
insignificant but actually play a very important role; what is it, that makes the
pattern hold?
The main characters son is used to represent possibilities; possibilities that he
could have had as a child. In the line a life gathering its tackle and / pushing
forward he can see that his sons life is actually moving, in comparison to his
stationary life. He wanted to be moving forward too, but he had been negatively
impacted by his experiences and seems to be in a stage of recovery.
His wife is the rock that holds his life together. As is already apparent, he
couldnt live properly without her.
How are specific settings imagined?
There are a few settings in the story, which are viewed as positive, neutral and
negative from the main characters point of view. The initial setting is in the
present, recovered from his divorce and drunken life. It has a positive light, as he
describes his sons room as being the centre of his growth, a life gathering its
tackle together and/Pushing forward. His backyard is full of happy memories
with his family. The tree is given a timeless quality by describing the bushes as
growing and the leaves glittering. The kitchen table is like a safe haven in stark
contrast to the apartments he was living in as a divorced drunk. He describes his
house as having a northerly aspect.
The main setting of the house impacts on the main characters thought process
as he tries to work out what holds everything together. It is the environment that
the house gives to him that leads him on this thought process. The peace and
love from his family, and safety of his home. The house is an example to apply
any theories he has about the stuff, much like a scientist thinking they have
found a trend and applying it to something that impacts their lives to try and
understand it. The question is never truly answered, but from his decision at the
end that the house has a northerly aspect and is full of light we can come to the
conclusion that he has discovered what he needs to know. The light represents
enlightenment and righteousness.
Personal Response:
I like the idea of the poem how the main character is just an average person but
is so deep in thought that its engrossing and entertaining. It revealed the
subtleties in life like happiness and how hard it is to come by. Not everyone is
happy, is what I think that the author is trying to say, because they set their
standards too high. The main character would arguably have an unhappy life
being a house-husband, but its a real happiness that he can live and enjoy. He
can be loved and return love. The theme is realistic and easy to compare to. I
liked when he described his sons clutter being a life gathering its tackle
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together and/pushing forward. Because it gave me insight of how my own father
or mother may feel about what is happening in my room. My parents room has
virtually been identical for many years but mine has been shape shifting every
day. I have learned that by setting realistic standards, happiness is easy to come
by, and I shouldnt put too much pressure on myself and just try to live with and
get along with other people.
Chris
Sound:
Alliteration:
Line 24 - rented room
Assonance:
Line 9 - washing his wife
Line 10 - went to work
Line 25 - when the washings

Line
Line
Line
Line
Line

Consonance:
5 - tackle together
7 - growing upwards
9 - washing his wife
10 - went to work
12 - what is it?

Line
Line
Line
Line
Line
Line
Line
Line
Line
Line
Line
Line
Line
Line
Line
Line
Line
Line
Line
Line
Line

Plosives:
1 around, bed
2 world
3 plotted
4 - clutter, plastic
5 tackle
6 pushing, backyard
7 thick, upwards
8 glitter
10 flapping
13 painted
15 bricks, pattern
16 pattern
17 party
18 drunk
19 kitchen
20 drinking
21 complex
22 once
23 drunk
24 rented
28 aspect

Onomatopoeia:
Line 3 plotted
Line 10 flapping
Sound makes up a major part of this poem.
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North Light - Analysis

Imagery:
Metaphors:
Line 10-11 - flapping in its circus
Line 28 it is full of light [in regards to the house]
Personification:
Line 5 life gathering its tackle together
Line 6 pushing forward [in regards to life]
Apostrophe:
Line 11-12 Something you cant see holds it together. What is it?
Line 16 what is it that makes the pattern hold?
There is not a great deal of imagery in the poem, giving the poem a recount feel.
Rhythm:
Free Verse - The poem is written in free verse, with no obvious rhyming patterns
or strict forms.

Repitition:

Structure of the Poem:

The poem is structured so that is set out as a snapshot in time. It takes place at
the start of a mans new, refreshed life. He was once a frightened old drunk, but
thanks to his family, he overcame his problems and gained a greater
appreciation for life, especially the little things. The exact point in his life that the
snapshot was taken place was were the man was pondering about life and what
held it all together, this elusive adhesive that kept his life from falling to pieces
and doing the job of keeping him and his wife in love with each other. He is
basically asking life itself at this point and realizes he wont get an answer, but is
none the less contempt with the fact that he has a happy life and thus altogether
grateful.
Another interesting aspect of this poem is the number of syllables per line. If you
were to take a few random lines, you can see how often they come to eight, nine
or ten syllables. This is the normal range anyone would expect in an iambic
pentameter, give or take one or two syllables. The fascinating thing though is
that towards the end of the poem there is a five line section where the syllables
are irregular, ranging from five to seven. This is because in this section is he
recalling some bad memories about when he was drunk and frightened. This
makes him lose his calm attitude and create a spike in the amount syllables. As
soon as he looks back outside at his backyard though, he instantly feels better
and thus the poem goes back to its regular rhythm.
The poem is also interestingly structured because of the way that it doesnt
adhere to the stereotypical cycle of love.

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North Light - Analysis

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