Ms. Sandy Rankin
February 12, 2013
Point of view paper
Essay 1- “A Martian Sends a Postcard Home”
Prison is a very dark and desolate place that presents the feeling of being trapped. Chris Rain in his poem “A Martian Sends a Postcard Home” talks literally about how a Martian is confused about everything on Earth. Raine’s dad was a former boxer and then became a bomb armorer for the British army, so maybe somehow Raine was exposed to prisoners of war and some kind of prison at some point in his life. Most analysts believe that the poem is simple and literally is about what the title suggests, but really it could be discussing the Martians feeling of being trapped and wanting to go home. Raine provides us with many analogies about the Martians inability to do stuff which could coincide with the barrier between freedom and being trapped like prison. Michael Vick, a pro football player, has a very interesting description of prison, of being trapped which provides a very interesting analogy that can be made with Raine’s lines about the Martian.
The poem provides many analogies that could represent the feeling of entrapment. For example Raine says “Model T is a room with the lock inside—a key is turned to free the world”. Raine is making a reference to the martian being confused and doing everything backwards compared to a human. Raine even makes mention of some sort of hauntings as he mentions ghost cries and creepy sounds that wake you up. Even more he talks about time going by as your tied to the wrist and “ticking with impatience”. It is amazing how confused the Martian is, he is trapped in a deeper meaning wanting to be free. At the end Raine provides his audience with something very interesting. He uses an analogy where the Martian is comparing the bathroom to a prison by saying it is a punishment room with only water. This really sets off an idea that Raine could possibly be referencing a prison in his poem.
In the real world there are many