A Biased Interpretation of the Past

We can make history to what we want it to be by only telling stories of sophistication and enjoyment. These stories we choose to tell can unintentionally portray a false sense of our past.The poet coveys the idea that a photograph only allows you to see the emotion that was shown in the time frame of which that the photo was taken in. This is shown by using many language techniques such as personification, symbolism and pun to convey the idea of what is behind the smiles. "Here the formal times are surrendered to the cameras indifferent gaze” is an example of personification. By saying "the cameras indifferent gaze" it is telling you that the camera lack of interest, concern, or sympathy whilst it is taking the picture of you. The effect of using this technique is it brings the writing to life and creates certain images out of words so the reader can relate. The camera will only take the photo the person is smiling which means that history is a biased interpretation of the past. Symbolism is a technique that has been used a few times throughout this poem. An example of symbolism is in the quote "linked hands or arms over shoulders”. This represents a bond and relationship that to people have whilst taking a photo. As well as an example of symbolism this quote it stating to the reader that history is a biased interpretation of the past as the photo was orchestrated therefore it was unnatural and the emotions were fake and staged for that particular event.

Another technique used in this poem was pun. The effect of a pun is that a word may have 2 or more meanings to portray the different ideas and encourages the reader to see the bigger picture. “we burn the negatives that we felt did not give a true account and with others made this abridgement of our lives" this emphasis' the negative photographs and the negative memories of their lives therefore showing that history is a biased interpretation of our pasts. In conclusion history is a biased interpretation of the past. By looking back on the memories we had and the memories that we see when we look at the photos we relies that they are very different. By using many languages techniques the poet portrays these ideas and that history is a biased interpretation of the past.