Essay on, "The Cockroach"
What Does the Cockroach Represent in the Poem?
A cockroach is usually considered to be insect with no being or purpose in life. In this poem Kevin Halligan treats the cockroach as if it were a sentient being through it’s movement, but is this cockroach anthropomorphised? This poem has an existentialistic theme in that it is either reflecting how human’s lives are worthless or that the narrator’s life seems to have as much purpose as a cockroach. Throughout the poem the writer describes the cockroach as a, “he” .In this tightly structured poem shows how the cockroach is a metaphor for how human’s needs in life are utterly unimportant through the cockroach’s impressively human movement.
The first line introduces the idea of anthropomorphism by describing an animal doing a human action. In the line, “giant cockroach started to pace”, the writer mentions vaguely how large the cockroach is but the readers don’t know if it is simply large for a cockroach or human size. Also the writer uses the word, “pace”, suggesting that the cockroach is thinking about something (meaning it would be a sentient being). This demonstrates that the author considers this cockroach to be more than simply a cockroach.
In the third line the writer introduces human emotion to the cockroach making it seem like more than a cockroach. In the line, “he seemed satisfied to trace”, the writer refers to the cockroach as a, “he”, again treating this bug like a person. Later the poet describes the cockroach, as seeming, “satisfied”, which is a content, human emotion. This action could also be a metaphor for a time in the speaker’s life or in anyone’s life where they seemed happy and content with the simplicity of their existence. The next line reinforces this with, “ A path between the wainscot and the door,”, where the author refers to the, “wainscot”, (usually something you would find in a fancy office) which could have an underlying meaning of a economically successful life.
In the
A cockroach is usually considered to be insect with no being or purpose in life. In this poem Kevin Halligan treats the cockroach as if it were a sentient being through it’s movement, but is this cockroach anthropomorphised? This poem has an existentialistic theme in that it is either reflecting how human’s lives are worthless or that the narrator’s life seems to have as much purpose as a cockroach. Throughout the poem the writer describes the cockroach as a, “he” .In this tightly structured poem shows how the cockroach is a metaphor for how human’s needs in life are utterly unimportant through the cockroach’s impressively human movement.
The first line introduces the idea of anthropomorphism by describing an animal doing a human action. In the line, “giant cockroach started to pace”, the writer mentions vaguely how large the cockroach is but the readers don’t know if it is simply large for a cockroach or human size. Also the writer uses the word, “pace”, suggesting that the cockroach is thinking about something (meaning it would be a sentient being). This demonstrates that the author considers this cockroach to be more than simply a cockroach.
In the third line the writer introduces human emotion to the cockroach making it seem like more than a cockroach. In the line, “he seemed satisfied to trace”, the writer refers to the cockroach as a, “he”, again treating this bug like a person. Later the poet describes the cockroach, as seeming, “satisfied”, which is a content, human emotion. This action could also be a metaphor for a time in the speaker’s life or in anyone’s life where they seemed happy and content with the simplicity of their existence. The next line reinforces this with, “ A path between the wainscot and the door,”, where the author refers to the, “wainscot”, (usually something you would find in a fancy office) which could have an underlying meaning of a economically successful life.
In the