Duffys Feelings in War Photographer and Stealing :: Carol Ann Duffy War Photographer Stealing Essays

Duffy's Feelings in War Photographer and Stealing Explain how Carol Ann Duffy conveys her feelings towards the subjects of the two poems War Photographer and Stealing. 'War Photographer' and 'Stealing' by Carol Ann Duffy are both poems about outsiders. She often uses dramatic monologues when writing poems, and 'Stealing' is an effective example. 'War Photographer' was written after Duffy had a conversation with a war photographer named Don McCullin. I believe that he must have inspired her to write this laudable poem. 'Stealing' too is based on a true event. When Duffy lived in Wimbledon her neighbours snowman was stolen. The setting of this poem is established on the first line; this being in a 'dark room' where 'he is finally alone'. Because the setting is away from the action of the war, it describes the results indirectly so that it is less graphic, whereas 'Stealing' explores the psychology of an anonymous outsider with anti-social behaviour and feelings. Like 'War Photographer', 'Stealing' is about someone who is isolated from society and shows evidence of being distressed. However, in this poem, the narrator is the character and he is angry and resentful. In both of the poems she uses the expressions and speech rhythms of an everyday conversation. 'Stealing' starts with a question, 'The most unusual thing I ever stole?', which I think, makes the poem more interesting and intriguing for the readers as well as making it more conversational. The question is then answered with 'A snowman'. This is quite a shocking and unusual thing to steal and I believe this will grab the reader's interest. By making the poem more conversational, it makes it more personal and gets us more intrigued and makes us think about the unusual question at the start of the poem. This is effective as it makes the poem feel more realistic to the readers and conveys her feelings to the poem in a more personal manner. Both of the poems are about anonymous people. In 'War Photographer' the main character is identified as a man. Duffy portrays this man as an outsider. She refers to him as a 'priest preparing to intone a mass'. 'All flesh is grass' is another effective example of religious imagery. I believe it means that there was so much death where he was photographing that the grass was covered in bodies. It is also linked to the Bible as it is said to mean 'walking on death'. The use of religion in this poem has a strong link to Duffy as she is said to be a Catholic. This makes the poem more personal as it shows that