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In the poem, “Jamie” by Elizabeth Brewster, Brewster describes the feeling of people who are isolated and different from the rest of society. Through describing the life of the main character Jamie, who was suddenly deaf when he was sixteen, the author is able to convey the bitterness and the anger of people’s solitude. In the story, Jamie had no friends and lived in the woods alone. This clearly shows Jamie was lonely. He experienced loneliness, bitterness, anger and being a social outcast throughout the poem. The character Jamie could be considered to represent those who no longer have an interest and passion in their life.
The poem starts with “When Jamie was sixteen, suddenly he was deaf. There were no songs, No voice anymore.” This part of the poem illustrates the difference between the normal life of a regular teenager and the silent world that Jamie lives. The age of sixteen is considered to be a very special age for the most of the teenagers. It is the age when you strive up and try to make your dream becomes reality. It is also the most important time for you to interact with your friends and develop friendships. So when Jamie lost the sense of hearing, he had not been able to experience a regular teenage life, which turned Jamie into a bitter person. He felt like he was removed from the society, because he could no longer relate to his friends or interact with them. This eventually resulted Jamie became a social outcast. “He walked about stunned by the terrible silence. Kicking a stick, rapping his knuckles on doors.” When Jamie was kicking a stick, rapping his knuckles on doors, he was trying to feel the sound that everyone is able to hear, but then he noticed there is only silence surrounded him. “He felt a spell of ...

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... freedom in the dream, but in the real world, he was still deaf, unloquacious, lonely and being a social outcast. While he realized the truth, he became furious and chopped the necks of pine trees. The pine trees represent the people around Jamie. Jamie wanted to kill them because he thought they were mocking him, because he is deaf. The last line of the poem shows Jamie’s anger and frustration in being deaf.
In the poem “Jamie” by Elizabeth Brewster, Brewster conveys the feeling of being isolated from the rest of society. By becoming deaf, people experienced bitterness, loneliness and anger, and eventually became a social outcast who is as unloquacious as a stone. But if we have desire and passion for our life, even we have disability; we would have a better life. Through the poem “Jamie”, the author also illustrates the importance of having desire for our life.

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