Hard Rock Returns to Prison from the Hospital for the Criminal Insane is a poem by Knight, Etheridge. The poem is centered on a heroic character named Hard Rock. Knight’s poem is an allegory of oral tradition. The author depicts Hard Rock as a legend to all inmates, as his exploits are well known among the inmates. Because of his defiance, Hard Rock is sent to a Hospital for the Criminal Insane. When he comes back, Hard Rock has been lobotomized and changed into a different man. He is not the strong prisoner the other inmates have heard of, he is a shell of what he used to be with no sight. The poem is just about a hero falling after a lobotomy procedure. The authorities used lobotomy to tame Hard Rock’s rebellion and this was not right.
The main themes of the poem are rebellion, oppression, and imprisonment. The theme of imprisonment is evident in Hard Rock Returns to Prison from the Hospital for the Criminal Insane poem. Hard Rock was a tough inmate, silenced by lobotomy. Hard Rock was a hero to the other prisoners, and this made the authority to take actions against him in order to tend his defiance. The punishment given to him was unjust because, it altered his body and movements, in addition to shortening his life. Authorities are used to oppressing the people who voice out what they believe is not right.
The theory of Panopticon by Foucault can be applied in this poem. According to Foucault, there is a cultural shift from the old traditional discipline of inmates to a European disciplinary system (314). In this new disciplinary model, the prisoners always assume that they are under constant watch by the guards and they start policing themselves. Panopticon is the process of inducing inmates to a state of conscious and ...
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...he Hospital for the Criminal Insane.” Poets.org. Academy of American Poets, 1997-2003. Web. 11 Mar. 2014.
Foucault, Michel. “Panopticism.” Ways of Reading. Fifth ed. Ed. David Barholomae and Anthony Petrosky. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 1999, 312-342. Print.
Knight, Etheridge. The Essential Etheridge Knight. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1986. Print
Szasz, Thomas. Coercion as Cure: A Critical History of Psychiatry. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Transaction, 2007. Print. Braslow, Joel T. Mental Ills and Bodily Cures: Psychiatric Treatment in the First Half of the Twentieth Century. California: University of California, 1997. Print.
Knight, Etheridge . (1933-1991), U.S. poet. Hard Rock Returns to Prison from the Hospital for the Criminal Insane (l. 7-10). Norton Introduction to Poetry, The. J. Paul Hunter, ed. (3d ed., 1986) W. W. Norton & Company.Print.
The main character, Hard Rock as a kind of “Superman” to other penal patients is recognized immediately in the poem through a repeating of the accounts that are strewed about him; the forthright narrative of the poem sets up the vagueness of how he will respond after his "treatment" in the sanatorium. The poem associates with those who anticipate his return; they are confident that Hard Rock's essence has not been shattered by a surgical “treatment” or shock therapy, and the lines slither nearly to a halt with dissatisfaction in verse four. The "nothing" (line 27) of Hard Rock's reaction to mockery and provoking and the hollowness of his eyes, "1ike knot holes in a fence," (James 194-195) decrease the valiant expectations and delusions to desolation. The final section recounts the spectators' efforts to reinterpret, to grasp onto faith that their idol of heroism could counter against the greatest determinations to dominate him, but the spirit has disappeared out of the hero-worshipers too, and the poem reports them as hammered, submitted, denied of their inner self as Hard Rock has been of his. The poem expresses the anguish of the despondent and it rallies against the implementation of power that can restrain even as fractious a character as Hard Rock.
The persona in the poem reacts to the power the wall has and realizes that he must face his past and everything related to it, especially Vietnam.
Perhaps no other event in modern history has left us so perplexed and dumbfounded than the atrocities committed by Nazi Germany, an entire population was simply robbed of their existence. In “Our Secret,” Susan Griffin tries to explain what could possibly lead an individual to execute such inhumane acts to a large group of people. She delves into Heinrich Himmler’s life and investigates all the events leading up to him joining the Nazi party. In“Panopticism,” Michel Foucault argues that modern society has been shaped by disciplinary mechanisms deriving from the plague as well as Jeremy Bentham’s Panopticon, a structure with a tower in the middle meant for surveillance. Susan Griffin tries to explain what happened in Germany through Himmler’s childhood while Foucault better explains these events by describing how society as a whole operates.
As medical advances are being made, it makes the treating of diseases easier and easier. Mental hospitals have changed the way the treat a patient’s illness considerably compared to the hospital described in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.
More of Knight’s notable use of diction and tone is found in this stanza, where he writes, “A hillbilly called him a black son of a bitch/ And didn’t lose his teeth, a screw who knew Hard Rock/ From before shook him down and barked in his face./ And Hard Rock did nothing” (lines 24-27). It can be felt from Knight’s use of tone that this type of action is uncharacteristic of Hard Rock. The second stanza details Hard Rock’s lobotomy, with Knight writing, “...the doctors had bored a hole in his head,/ Cut out part of his brain, and shot electricity/ Through the rest” (lines 8-10). This leaves the inmate with an intruding presence of hopelessness. The imagery and diction is the last stanza of the poem drives home the motif of disheartenment that the black prison inmates felt after realizing that Hard Rock is forever changed. Similar to the movie One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, the central, nonconformist character Randle McMurphy, who gave the inmates a sense of hope, is lobotomized, leaving the prisoners afraid and unable to challenge authority in the way they could have if McMurphy was still his full, original self. This is the same way that Etheridge Knight and his fellow prisoners felt after Hard Rock’s return. The one person who was brave enough to stand back was now made into a martyr for the prisoners as well as an example made for the prisoners on what would happen if
“Mr. Rager” has a very important symbol in the song lyric and that is Mr. Rager. Scott writes, “I’m off on an adventure, Mr. Rager/ Tell me some of your stories, tell us of your travels.” (Cudi line 18, 19). Mr. Rager symbolizes as the adventurer on his way to heaven. It was easy to tell who was the adventurer in the song lyrics but harder in the poem. Allen states his symbolism in his poem,”Oh! That my young life were a lasting dream!/ My spirit not awakening, till the beam/ Of an Eternity should bring the morrow.” (Poe line 1, 2, 3). The symbolism in the poem is the man’s spirit. The man’s spirit has kept him believing that one day he will be in heaven.The most symbolized man, woman or object in either poem or song lyric is Mr. Rager in the song lyric.
Dylan Thomas wrote the poem “Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night.” It is about a son’s plea to his father who is approaching death. Two lines are repeated in the poem and addressed directly to the father. These lines structure the first stanza and collaborate as a couplet in the last. They are repeated a lot but each time, they have different meanings: statements, pleas, commands, or petitions. Repetition and rhyme scheme are parts of prosody in poetry. The rhyme scheme is built on two rhymes and forms of a pattern. The two rhymes are night and day and the pattern is aba, and in the last stanza, abaa. Even though the poem seems to have too much repetition, the fascinating imagery is more important and readers pay more attention to that instead.
Ever feel as though someone is watching you? You know that you are the only one in a room, but for some reason you get an eerie feeling that you are not alone? You might not see anyone, but the eyes of a stranger could be gazing down on you. In Foucault's "Panopticism," a new paradigm of discipline is introduced, surveillance. No one dares to break the law, or do anything erroneous for that matter, in fear that they are being watched. This idea of someone watching your every move compels you to obey. This is why the idea of Panopticism is such an efficient form of discipline. The Panopticon is the ideal example of Panopticism, which is a tool for surveillance that we are introduced to in “Panopticism.” Kurt Vonnegut's "Harrison Bergeron," has taken the idea of surveillance one step further. The government not only observes everyone, but has complete control over society. The citizens of the United States cannot even think for themselves without being interrupted by the government. They are prisoners in their own minds and bodies. The ideals of “Panopticism” have been implemented to the fullest on society in Vonnegut’s "Harrison Bergeron," through physical and mental handicaps.
One of the effects of the legacy of the residential school system is isolation and it plays a big role in both Creative Escape 2013 and Kiss of the Fur Queen. The incarcerated people face isolation from all families, communities and friends while in jail. In Creative Escape one poem discusses...
As science has evolved, so have treatments for mental illnesses have over time. The medical model is described as the view that psychological disorders are medical diseases with a biological origin (King, 2010, pg. 413). Abnormal behavior that categorizes some disorders can be impacted by biological factors such as genes, psychological factors such as childhood experiences, and even sociocultural factors such as gender and race (King, 2010). Treatments such as psychosurgery (lobotomy) , drug therapy (pharmaceuticals), electroconclusive therapy, and psychoanalysis are used to treat a wide range of psychological disorders. Back then, the public’s negative views on mental illnesses also went as far to associate with the people who treated it; psychiatrists. “Nunnally (1961) found that the public evaluated professionals who treated mental disorders significantly more negatively than those who treat physical disorders,” (Phelan, Link, Stueve, & Pescosolido, 2000, pg. 189). People back then didn’t see the point in “paying to be told that they were crazy”. However, in today’s society, it is now acceptable to seek help from psychiatric professionals; we are seeing more and more people seek mental health treatment. “In terms of facility-based records of utilization (Manderscheid and Henderson 1998), the data suggest that the rate of utilization of professional mental health services has at least doubled and maybe tripled, between the 1950’s and today,” (Phelan, Link, Stueve, & Pescosolido, 2000, pg. 189). In the 1950’s, neuroleptic drugs like Thorazine were introduced to treat the symptoms of schizophrenia. These drugs block a neurotransmitter called dopamine from getting to the brain, which in turn reduce schizophrenic symptoms, however there are some side effects such as substantial twitching of the neck, arms, and legs, and even dysphoria or lack of pleasure. (King, 2010, pg.
In the final stanza, the poet claims that young men whom are of the same mind will look to the criminal for guidance. These young minds will relate to the social-stance of the criminal, and maybe follow in the same footsteps, treating the criminal as their role model.
What comes to mind when you hear the words “insane asylum”? Do such terms as lunatic, crazy, scary, or even haunted come to mind? More than likely these are the terminology that most of us would use to describe our perception of insane asylums. However, those in history that had a heart’s desire to treat the mentally ill compassionately and humanely had a different viewpoint. Insane asylums were known for their horrendous treatment of the mentally ill, but the ultimate purpose in the reformation of insane asylums in the nineteenth century was to improve the treatment for the mentally ill by providing a humane and caring environment for them to reside.
The concept of panopticon in the penal system, which showed immediate success in reform and discipline, eventually leads to it being linked to every component of the modern society. Jeremy Bentham’s panopticon and Foucault concept of Panopticism is seen in many places today in our society. Wherever you look you will certainly find places like, schools, hospital, factories, asylums, and even universities, represent Panopticism because all of this places have some kind of surveillance s...
In doing so, Foucault famously compares contemporary society to a prison- “prison is not so unlike what happens every day.” Ultimately, Foucault attempts to exemplify
In this poem, the author is telling the story in first person plural. Knight is telling the story from his point of view, along with the other prisoners. The detail the author gives in the poem allows me to create many images of his physical features while reading. “Split purple lips, lumbed ears, welts above his yellow eyes, and one long scar that cut across his temple and plowed through a thick canopy of kinky hair.” These lines in the poem give me a vivid description of Hard Rock. In my opinion, the author portrays a serious tone throughout the poem. Knight’s tone at the end of the poem even