The opening lines of the poem initiate the main themes; “Black bull” introduces one of the themes which are gender stereotyping. This suggests the bull is powerful, strong and very angry. Females are then introduced in the poem, “eggs and milk”. This suggests females are pale, delicate and easily broken. The poet highlights the theme of stereotypes by placing “black bull” above “eggs and milk”. This is to effectively state that the black bull is on top of eggs and milk which emphasises on the importance of gender stereotyping.
The second theme is introduced which is innocence and experience,
“They call him Bob – as though perhaps you could reduce a monster with the charm of a friendly name”. Tone her is cynical. The bull has been given a cheery, friendly name which is a irrelevant name for the harsh animal. The key words of the quote are “monster” and “friendly”. This is a very striking contrast between the idea of the name Bob being friendly, cheery and approachable, but in actual fact behind the cheery name lays a monster.
The quote, “at the threshold of his outhouse”, is the turning point in the story. This is a symbolic quote that states you must go over a line before starting a new life. In the poem a young girl is standing in the area between safety and danger. The line is significant as the pause creates a series of tension building up to a sense of danger. The girl’s initial perceptions of the creature are conveyed in, “At first only black, and the hot reek of him…”
The girl’s sensory impressions of the bull are that the word “black” represents danger. The words “hot reek” represents the smell and stench of the bull. Her over all sensory impression is the smell of the bulls pungent aroma that is its natural smell and the limited sight gives her a sense of the unknown danger.
The poet continues to reference the main theme of gender stereotyping by developing it, “We was immense”,
This quote highlights masculinity and