Leena Ramlakhan 12RL Sunday 4th November 2018
Compare the ways in which suffering is presented in ‘The Deliverer’ by Tishani Doshi and
‘Giuseppe’ by Roderick Ford.
A parallel that can be drawn between Tishani Doshi’s poem, ‘The Deliverer’ and ‘Giuseppe’
by Roderick Ford, is that they both are anecdotal poems featuring some form of suffering.
‘Giuseppe’ serves as an allegory for the atrocities man commits against man in war. Ford
presents a fantastical narrative with realistic elements giving it a degree of credibility.
Meanwhile, ‘The Deliverer,’ is rooted in realism which makes the account of a baby girl
being ostracised more harrowing as there is a high likelihood of similar tragedies occurring
in underdeveloped parts of the world.
From the opening stanza of ‘The Deliverer,’ Doshi presents the harsh reality of suffering
babies go through for the sole fact that they were born “crippled or dark or girls”. The heart
of these abandoned babies’ suffering is prejudice which is inbuilt so deeply in some societies
that children are dehumanised and minimised to the same standard as “garbage” by being
left amongst trash where they risk being “dug up by a dog, Thinking the head barely poking
above the ground Was bone or wood, something to chew”. The vulnerability of the baby is
emphasised, as her head is small enough for a “dog” to mistake it for a “bone,” and
obviously the baby would be rendered helpless against a potentially dangerous dog digging
her up. Doshi immediately evokes alarm in the reader with this emotive description that
creates a sickening atmosphere for anyone to be deserted in- furthermore a defenceless
new-born baby.
On the other hand, in ‘Giuseppe,’ Ford makes a juxtaposition between the more attractive
environment and the sordid suffering taking place in it. The setting is embellished by
“bougainvillea” that symbolises peace, and flowers, in general, are traditionally a symbol of
life and growth- which is ironic as they are present in a war where brutalities and fatality
have become the norm. This is demonstrated in the following lines: “the only captive
mermaid in the world was butchered on the dry and dusty ground by a doctor, a
fishmonger, and certain others”. The stark contrast between the beautiful surroundings
against the shocking violence conveys how humankind destroys the natural world, as
although the mythological “mermaid” holds allegorical significance and is not meant to be
taken literally, she is the “only captive” one and is then cruelly “butchered,” which can be
perceived as a criticism of the way humans have driven other species to the point of
extinction. In addition, one of the people carrying out the butchering is “a doctor,” a
conventionally well-respected profession trusted to care for and save lives- not taking them,
as the “doctor” in this case is doing. Ford can be showing how war can drive the most
refined individuals to barbaric behaviour and may be alluding to the unethical experiments
carried out by Nazi doctors, like Josef Mengele, that tampered with nature and took the
lives of unconsenting candidates, majorly Jews who were regarded as sub-human just as the
“mermaid” is. In this sense, both poems focus on the suffering of victims of discrimination
who are marginalised and even dehumanised in their society. Doshi in ‘The Deliverer' does
so in a direct way, focusing on the specific cultural issue of infant abandonment, and in
contrast, Ford takes a more surreal and abstract approach that is open to interpretation and
can be applicable to many historical events.
Compare the ways in which suffering is presented in ‘The Deliverer’ by Tishani Doshi and
‘Giuseppe’ by Roderick Ford.
A parallel that can be drawn between Tishani Doshi’s poem, ‘The Deliverer’ and ‘Giuseppe’
by Roderick Ford, is that they both are anecdotal poems featuring some form of suffering.
‘Giuseppe’ serves as an allegory for the atrocities man commits against man in war. Ford
presents a fantastical narrative with realistic elements giving it a degree of credibility.
Meanwhile, ‘The Deliverer,’ is rooted in realism which makes the account of a baby girl
being ostracised more harrowing as there is a high likelihood of similar tragedies occurring
in underdeveloped parts of the world.
From the opening stanza of ‘The Deliverer,’ Doshi presents the harsh reality of suffering
babies go through for the sole fact that they were born “crippled or dark or girls”. The heart
of these abandoned babies’ suffering is prejudice which is inbuilt so deeply in some societies
that children are dehumanised and minimised to the same standard as “garbage” by being
left amongst trash where they risk being “dug up by a dog, Thinking the head barely poking
above the ground Was bone or wood, something to chew”. The vulnerability of the baby is
emphasised, as her head is small enough for a “dog” to mistake it for a “bone,” and
obviously the baby would be rendered helpless against a potentially dangerous dog digging
her up. Doshi immediately evokes alarm in the reader with this emotive description that
creates a sickening atmosphere for anyone to be deserted in- furthermore a defenceless
new-born baby.
On the other hand, in ‘Giuseppe,’ Ford makes a juxtaposition between the more attractive
environment and the sordid suffering taking place in it. The setting is embellished by
“bougainvillea” that symbolises peace, and flowers, in general, are traditionally a symbol of
life and growth- which is ironic as they are present in a war where brutalities and fatality
have become the norm. This is demonstrated in the following lines: “the only captive
mermaid in the world was butchered on the dry and dusty ground by a doctor, a
fishmonger, and certain others”. The stark contrast between the beautiful surroundings
against the shocking violence conveys how humankind destroys the natural world, as
although the mythological “mermaid” holds allegorical significance and is not meant to be
taken literally, she is the “only captive” one and is then cruelly “butchered,” which can be
perceived as a criticism of the way humans have driven other species to the point of
extinction. In addition, one of the people carrying out the butchering is “a doctor,” a
conventionally well-respected profession trusted to care for and save lives- not taking them,
as the “doctor” in this case is doing. Ford can be showing how war can drive the most
refined individuals to barbaric behaviour and may be alluding to the unethical experiments
carried out by Nazi doctors, like Josef Mengele, that tampered with nature and took the
lives of unconsenting candidates, majorly Jews who were regarded as sub-human just as the
“mermaid” is. In this sense, both poems focus on the suffering of victims of discrimination
who are marginalised and even dehumanised in their society. Doshi in ‘The Deliverer' does
so in a direct way, focusing on the specific cultural issue of infant abandonment, and in
contrast, Ford takes a more surreal and abstract approach that is open to interpretation and
can be applicable to many historical events.
