Condolences of the Season by Bruce Dawe: Analysis
Condolences of the Season
“Identi-knitted out as fulsomely as the most wanted criminal” – The identity is relentlessly picked apart and related to other relatives as if he was a master criminal that everyone was trying to identify.
Fulsomely - Unrelenting
“Any means you choose to shake them off are bound to fail” – All the attempts that the child will make in its life to break free of their family heritage and become an individual will be futile, as the family members will always be able to identify one of themselves.
“Bearded, double-chined, dark-spectacled, the hair grown long and thatching tell tail ears, checks padded with middle-age” – Shows that the child has now grown into a man and is trying to conceal themselves from their heritage. To become their own person.
“The trail is cold,” no one knows where you have come from or where you have been. No one knows whom you belong to. No body suspects who you are.
“The pack confused” - The futile attempts to conceal their true identity seems to be working, seems to be fooling the ’pack’.
“Until, at a family reunion, some frail octogenarian creature, screaming out” – This creature screaming gives the impression of a grotesque monster that is bellowing at you. Victimising the adult child as if they were a child again.
Octogenarian – 80 year old.
“How could I be so foolish? Harry’s nose! Shaking with recognition pulls you down…”– Foiled. The attempt to stay an individual has been broken. Some old “creature” has found a clue, a hint, from your past. You have been recognised and placed back into your box, pulled back into your category where you belong.
“Lapped in a bunny rug, you stare them down” – The contradicting images of the baby wrapped in a cuddly and friendly bunny shaped rug and the harshness of something staring at so intently that it creates a sense of terror. This is a good example of juxtaposition as the contrast between the two images brings a vivid picture of an adorable baby staring
“Identi-knitted out as fulsomely as the most wanted criminal” – The identity is relentlessly picked apart and related to other relatives as if he was a master criminal that everyone was trying to identify.
Fulsomely - Unrelenting
“Any means you choose to shake them off are bound to fail” – All the attempts that the child will make in its life to break free of their family heritage and become an individual will be futile, as the family members will always be able to identify one of themselves.
“Bearded, double-chined, dark-spectacled, the hair grown long and thatching tell tail ears, checks padded with middle-age” – Shows that the child has now grown into a man and is trying to conceal themselves from their heritage. To become their own person.
“The trail is cold,” no one knows where you have come from or where you have been. No one knows whom you belong to. No body suspects who you are.
“The pack confused” - The futile attempts to conceal their true identity seems to be working, seems to be fooling the ’pack’.
“Until, at a family reunion, some frail octogenarian creature, screaming out” – This creature screaming gives the impression of a grotesque monster that is bellowing at you. Victimising the adult child as if they were a child again.
Octogenarian – 80 year old.
“How could I be so foolish? Harry’s nose! Shaking with recognition pulls you down…”– Foiled. The attempt to stay an individual has been broken. Some old “creature” has found a clue, a hint, from your past. You have been recognised and placed back into your box, pulled back into your category where you belong.
“Lapped in a bunny rug, you stare them down” – The contradicting images of the baby wrapped in a cuddly and friendly bunny shaped rug and the harshness of something staring at so intently that it creates a sense of terror. This is a good example of juxtaposition as the contrast between the two images brings a vivid picture of an adorable baby staring