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    The Dolphins - by Carol Ann Duffy

    Uploaded by

    Ajaitri Kar
    This document provides an analysis of the poem "The Dolphins" from multiple perspectives: 1) The poem is written from the viewpoint of a dolphin that has lost its freedom in the ocean and is now trapped in an artificial pool for human entertainment. 2) It highlights the emotions of suffering, enslavement, and loss experienced by dolphins in captivity. 3) On a larger scale, the dolphin's voice represents all animals that have had their freedom taken and been exploited by humans. 4) Through imagery and repetition, the poet conveys a sense of monotony, despair and brokenness in the dolphins' lives as they mourn the loss of their natural habitat

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    The Dolphins - by Carol Ann Duffy

    Uploaded by

    Ajaitri Kar
    245 views3 pages
    This document provides an analysis of the poem "The Dolphins" from multiple perspectives: 1) The poem is written from the viewpoint of a dolphin that has lost its freedom in the ocean and is now trapped in an artificial pool for human entertainment. 2) It highlights the emotions of suffering, enslavement, and loss experienced by dolphins in captivity. 3) On a larger scale, the dolphin's voice represents all animals that have had their freedom taken and been exploited by humans. 4) Through imagery and repetition, the poet conveys a sense of monotony, despair and brokenness in the dolphins' lives as they mourn the loss of their natural habitat

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    _The Dolphins_ by Carol Ann Duffy

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    This document provides an analysis of the poem "The Dolphins" from multiple perspectives: 1) The poem is written from the viewpoint of a dolphin that has lost its freedom in the ocean and is now trapped in an artificial pool for human entertainment. 2) It highlights the emotions of suffering, enslavement, and loss experienced by dolphins in captivity. 3) On a larger scale, the dolphin's voice represents all animals that have had their freedom taken and been exploited by humans. 4) Through imagery and repetition, the poet conveys a sense of monotony, despair and brokenness in the dolphins' lives as they mourn the loss of their natural habitat

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    245 views3 pages

    The Dolphins - by Carol Ann Duffy

    Uploaded by

    Ajaitri Kar
    This document provides an analysis of the poem "The Dolphins" from multiple perspectives: 1) The poem is written from the viewpoint of a dolphin that has lost its freedom in the ocean and is now trapped in an artificial pool for human entertainment. 2) It highlights the emotions of suffering, enslavement, and loss experienced by dolphins in captivity. 3) On a larger scale, the dolphin's voice represents all animals that have had their freedom taken and been exploited by humans. 4) Through imagery and repetition, the poet conveys a sense of monotony, despair and brokenness in the dolphins' lives as they mourn the loss of their natural habitat

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    of 3

    DOLPHIN

    Monologue
    Theme: - cry of freedom - representative of all caged, tortured animals -
    protest against cruelty - conservation of animals

    Message:-
    The poem does not give any direct message to the readers. It only
    records the experience of the dolphins in an artificial atmosphere where
    they are forced to do several tricks for human entertainment under the
    threatening presence of their keeper. If there is any message, it is for us to
    derive. We are exhorted implicitly to do something against the needless
    confinement of innocent creatures by allowing them to enjoy freedom in
    their natural environments.

    Notes:-
    The helpless creatures are happy in their natural habitat. This poem
    is written from the perspective of a dolphin who becomes a spokesperson
    for its kind, invoicing its anguish, over the loss of its freedom. On a larger
    scale, the dolphins’ voice is the voice of all such animals and birds trapped
    for entertainment by man. The focus is on the plight and hopelessness of
    the dolphins.
    New word - speciesism: - The assumption of human superiority leading to
    the exploitation of animals.

    Analysis:-
    "The Dolphins" is a dramatic monologue from the perspective of a
    dolphin that has lost that he enjoyed in the ocean and is now trapped in an
    artificial pool. This poem brings into light to the emotions and suffering of
    a dolphin subjected to confinement. A sense of enslavement pervades the
    entire poem.

    Even though dolphins are known as the befriender of human beings


    in trouble at sea, it is ironic how human beings are responsible for their
    misery. Even though the poem begins with positive words like "swim" and
    "dance", it is immediately contrasted to their present state of enslavement
    in the line, "We are not free." The poem begins with the dolphin speaking
    in 2nd person, which immediately establishes a sense of affinity between the
    dolphin and the readers. The rest of the poem is in the 1st person plural,
    "we”, which transports the readers into the world of dolphins. The dolphin
    remembers its carefree days in the ocean and contrasts it with its present
    life of monotony and despair.

    The dolphin's companion is aware of their state of misery and tries to


    reduce their pain by sticking together through thick and thin. The only
    source of joy in their lives is when they think about their happy past in the
    sea. The poem also highlights the cruelty of human beings towards animals.
    It shows how man, being superior in nature, denies the minimal level of
    freedom and happiness. Human beings have commercialized dolphins by
    snatching away their natural habitat for their own use. The sense of loss
    and regret is intensified in the line, “We see our silver skin flash by light
    memory/ of somewhere else." Their previous world of passion, joy seems to
    belong somewhere else now. The poem ends on a note of hopelessness and
    darkness. The dolphins seem to live in a world where the moon has been
    replaced by a coloured ball and freedom by man's commands. The natural
    regulator of tides seems to have been replaced by man-made objects. Their
    life has become tedious and unexciting and they keep circling the grooves of
    water on a single note.

    The poet has used repetition, contrast and imagery of loss to create
    Pathos for the imprisoned dolphins. There is a definite rhyme scheme in
    the poem. The broken pattern may be taken as the representation of the
    brokenness in the dolphin's mind and soul. The poet uses a number of
    poetic devices to create the feeling of monotony and sorrow in the poem,
    some of which are metaphor, simile, alliteration and so on.

    The themes of loss, nostalgia, oppression, human cruelty and


    dislocation are beautifully expressed in the poem.

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