Gwen Harwood: Father and Child Essay

The couplet Father and Child from Gwen Harwood explores ideas of mogul and oppression. atomic number 5 car horn, the first poem portrays the effect of business office and the destruction that can occur when people be oppressed. In Nightfall Harwood examines how par and mutual adulthood can develop serenity and harmony. Due to these underlying concepts of chest and rebellion the couplet can be viewed through a Marxist perspective and it examines the effects of autocracy. Although Harwood was never publicly Marxist through her disapproval of oppression it is possible to believe that she held kindred worldview to that of a Marxist standpoint.In the beginning of Barn Owl the reader witnesses the child, a horny fiend, attempt to escape the oppression under her cause who is robbed of originator by sleep. Although there is no pretext given for the poem the reader can pack that she seeks to escape her overpowering father. In order to free herself from her fathers authority she n eeded to go the master of life and death by demonstrating her authority over the innocent bird. Harwoods allegory of the levels of authority with the father highest, followed by the child and ending with the bird reflects a non-communist social club in which people be in social classes. Similar to a Capitalist culture, crowning(prenominal)ly it is the working class, in Harwoods metaphor the owl, who suffers under the persecution of those in higher social classes. Ultimately these ideas of power and authority cause destruction and suffering.Nightfall, the siemens poem in the couplet exhibits a tilt in authority, where the father and child are equals. The child, at present an adult has experienced the world and views her fathers authority as ancient innocence, no longer seeking to rebel, as in the first poem, and instead grieves the loss of her stick-thin comforter. As she reflects on her fathers life, she describes his marvellous journey. These comments are words of com define ation and respect a clear shift from Barn Owl, where she seeks to reb. The peaceful death described by the words your night and day are adept, contrasts the obscene and cruel murder of the owl in Barn Owl. Ultimately Harwood reflects on the idea that equality provides peace.Harwood never out rightly claimed to be Marxist, however the couplet Father and Child portrays underlying ideas correspondent to that of a Marxist worldview. Throughout both poems Harwood repeats words often associated with power and a capitalist society such as master, wisp-haired judge, exalts and king. The ending of both poems are also similar as they both end with a death.Although the death of the owl was horrific and tragic and the fathers death was peaceful, it is death all the same. Perhaps by repeating concepts of power and death Harwood is trying to drink the audience to a connection between both. She may be outlining the idea that an attempt to seek power and authority can lead to a death which no wo rds, no tears can mend. This can be interpreted as critiquing a society in which power and influence are the goals, not seeking relationships or community.Father and Child is a representation of the influence of authority. In Barn Owl the audience witnesses a cycle of oppression where the weakest individuals are victims. However, Nightfall exhibits a shift in authority as the father and child are equal leading to peace. Throughout the entire meet the author repeats ideas of power and authority subtly questioning the value of a society where control is the ultimate goal, not the nurturing of relationships and the development of a community in which all people are treated as equals.