Is This Man Going Against the Grain?
In Malcolm Lowry’s poem, Eye-Opener, it gives a strong indication that the speaker is telling the audience to listen to his words with the thought of the typical man in mind. This begs the question of why; why is the author trying to compare the example of a man in his story to the average man that the presumed girl listening to this story has conjured up in her mind. This leads to just one more question, which is quite difficult to completely answer granted to stories cliff hangers (Why a cliff hanger? Come on!), but, nonetheless, can the man in Lowry’s story be seen as the average man based on his decision making, or can he be seen through a perspective giving him a bit more leniency? It’s as if to say, “If anyone could pull this stunt off, then it would be this guy.” The man in this case is being compared to that of any ordinary male given his ill-mannered actions that seemingly take place on some sort of basis are not justified and clearly resemble that of any drunken buffoon, as he makes the poor decision to not only stray away from changing his habits but even goes further down the path of alcoholism by resorting to partake in drinking rum that has gone bad.
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The rhyme scheme of this piece is very soothing with four different pairs of rhyming couplets along with every line being 10 syllables, with the exception of the fourth line that is one syllable over every other line.
The tone of the author seems to indicate that the man being presented in this instance should be questioned and should be compared to the standard of males, which doesn’t seem to be very positive after hearing what the man does. The speaker then seems to have the right to sound dissatisfied towards this specific man, as he seems to avoid responsibilities and not regarding his health and well-being, which could directly affect his family
members. The biggest disregard for this man’s well-being is waking up in the middle of the night, because it is important to get your sleep. The man then finds himself rummaging through the mess that was made from a party he had earlier. So this man is coming down stairs after barely getting any rest from a party that he had been drinking at and is in the kitchen looking for more booze. This could be a sign of alcoholism, as we can infer that this is not the first time that he has done this, as the author stated that he “rises late.” With this man’s assumed compulsive need to continue to drink, he not only disregarded HIS own dirty dishes in the pursuit of catching a harder buzz but even went to the lengths of drinking “stale rum.” The speaker also sees this man as foolish when he decided to take this “gruesome bait.” This shows that the man will put getting drunk over his own health, but this also shows that the man could have experience in doing these things, which might be what is keeping him alive. Now, the reason the author could be viewing this scenario from a more lenient perspective is because of the fact that this has become a habit. The man gets up in the middle of the night to take care of his craving for alcohol, and that is why this man would be safer than a man that isn’t so average. First of all, the man left for breakfast and was “stumbling through the forest.” This could very well mean that he is lost, yet he didn’t take his car, which means he has limits and set boundaries as to how far he will go to have a good time while being and getting more intoxicated. If a not so everyday partygoer man was to start doing what this man did tonight; he might not have the confidence when he is inebriated that this drinking veteran would surely have granted he throws parties, which means he could even be seen as a leader amongst his group of friends. That is just further evidence to back up that this man isn’t necessarily being responsible but that he can push past the boundaries of drinking that most people can because of his increased tolerance and experiences being on and around those that are on alcohol. However, aside from all of these positively reinforced attributes that can be found in this man, there is one thing that sets him apart from the rest and that he made the decision to take the “gruesome bait.” And this is what is ultimately seen as distasteful in the eyes of the writer and is an eye-opener in regards to this man being like every other man, because every other man has their limits; but, in conclusion, this story calls into question the everyday habits of this man compared to that of the average man and shows that these habits relating to consuming alcohol could lead to unfortunate consequences.
one page 11) this indicates that he is a selfish man and cares for his
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that this old man didn’t stand well in society due to the characterization. The comprehension of
to the whole heart, may avail himself of this marvelous power, if he will”. This quote support my thesis because a man works to provide for his family and others, to become a man you will need independent and have some type of work ethic. Not only does the young men today have no one to look up too but they don’t truly know right from