Human Corruption Comparison

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Human Corruption depicts the abandoning of societal norms and values for an unfair advantage or for various other reasons including greed for wealth. Clearly, the person engaging in such activities is driven by an ulterior motive or a vested interest through which he/she hopes to gain and take advantage of their power against society with disregard to the rules and regulations governing such behaviour. This central idea is explored vastly in ‘Prayer before Birth’, ‘War Photographer’, ‘Mother in A Refugee Camp’ and the three other poems through the use of elements such as stylistic features, language techniques and form and structure. The respective poets employ these techniques in different ways. In ‘Prayer Before Birth’, MacNeice expresses his fear towards a corrupt world. He does this through the persona of an unborn child. ‘War Photographer’ by Carol Ann Duffy similarly puts readers in the shoes of the photographer who spends his occupation alternating between two contrasting countries and situations. ‘Mother in a Refugee Camp’ is about the struggle of a mother holding her dying son in her hands for the last time suggesting the inevitability of death. The ideas conveyed in the three main poems are supported by the secondary poems: Adrienne Rich’s “Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers”, Maya Angelou’s ‘Still I rise’ and Carol Ann Duffy’s ‘Shooting Stars’.

TOPIC SENTENCE The corruption of humanity is explored in depth in ‘War photographer’ through the form and structure of the poem. Humanity does appear corrupt to a great extent in ‘War Photographer’ where the hope is slowly decreasing as the poem progresses. This is shown through the use of language and structure present throughout the poem. ‘War Photographer’, the reader is given only an im...

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...tanza where the harshness of the opening stanzas is replaced by the atmospheric line ‘a white light in the back of my mind to guide me’. However, this tone does not last long as later on ‘mountains frown at me, white waves call me to folly’, this personification suggests that the power of corruption has deprived nature of its purity. The child also fears society will ‘dragoon’ him into ‘a lethal automaton’ or a ‘cog’. MacNeice uses metaphor to suggest the idea that society is manipulative and you no longer have an identity. Tragic images are employed to convey the idea that newborn children are innocent, so a child not even born yet has no understanding of the world around it. Even though the child has limited knowledge regarding the world, he still expresses his insights against the world - ‘Let them not make me a stone and let them not spill me/Otherwise kill me.’

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