Tom Brennan Speech Analysis

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Today I am here to talk to you about how transitions can evoke a deeper understanding of ourselves and others through my chosen texts. Enjoy.

The process of transitions evoked by attitudes of hostility and forced physical relocation can result in changed attitudes and beliefs leading to growth, change and prolonged suffering. The novel, ‘The Story of Tome Brennan’ by JC Burke is the epitome of the ways in which an individual’s attitudes about their life can be greatly challenged and reformed due to the catalyst of tragedy. Comparably John Schmann’s song, ‘I was only 19’ and Gwen Harwood’s poem, ‘Father and Child’ portrays the less favourable consequences of transitions which can lead individuals to develop
Aural imagery establishes the Brennan family’s sense of alienation in the prologue which is characterised by the manner in which, “No one spoke” and “only the sounds of our feet shuffling” (pg1) could be heard as the Brennan family left their rural home town of Mumbilli. The audience is drawn into the prologue through ambiguity of which caused the Brennan’s sudden upheaval, however is assured as the station wagon slinks “past the ugly words that told us that we were no longer wanted.” (pg1) that this family who had previously enjoyed social acceptance was now enduring castigation. Burke foreshadows Tom’s transition in the prologue with the closing of the door to Tom’s old house symbolising the end of Tom’s old life and the beginning of Tom’s new life. Tom’s attitudes and beliefs about himself are noticeably fractured by his family’s forced relocation to Coghill, evident in the metaphorical language of, “the black curtain” which reflects Tom’s depression that acts as a barrier and blocks his transition. Burke, in Tom Brennan displays how reckless behaviour as a rite of passage in a rural communal paradigm can act as a catalyst for a multitude of consequences including an individual’s loss of belief in oneself and how this can lead to a deeper understanding of oneself and the actions of
The second part of the poem ‘Nightfall’ continues the story of the child forty years from ‘Barn owl’, where she had lost her innocence by shooting an owl and this had resulted in a heavy hearted guilt which was caused by her unknowing and stubborn actions. The poem represents death closing in on the father, and the limitations of time on their relationship that was never experienced before in her younger years. The father, who in the first poem is depicted as an “old no-sayer”, is now held in high esteem, he is admired and respected as an “old king”. The extended metaphor “Since there is no more to taste ripeness is plainly all. Father we pick our last fruits of the temporal.” Appeals to our senses and is now an aural metaphor, it illustrates the father’s life becoming fulfilled or ripe, it has come near to its end and the father and child will now spend or pick the last moments of the father’s life together. Over time her appreciation of her father has changed, this is shown through “Who can be what you were?” and “Old King, your marvellous journey’s done.” She has realised the valuable life her father has led and the great loss that will be felt after he is gone. The child, now a grown woman learns another lesson about death, it can be quiet and peaceful, and “Your night and day