Technique/idea Key Quotes and analysis
Key themes: What does Infanticide The poem starts off at ‘Our Lady of
this poem explore? Displacement the Light, Kerala’, a place known for
Family infanticide. The speaker was found
Loss with her ‘head barely poking above
the ground’.
The speaker felt the ‘strangeness of
her empty arms’ when meeting her
new mother, suggesting she feels
displaced.
The theme of family is consistent
throughout the poem, as the
speaker is ‘passed from woman to
woman’, suggesting that she doesn’t
have a sense of who she is.
The mothers’ from the village that
the speaker comes from ‘toss the
baby into a heap of others’ if it is not
a boy, suggesting a sense of loss.
Language: Any patterns Objectification The ‘sister’ comes to ‘collect
of language? Poetic Syntax children’, symbolising the
techniques? Eg: similes, Monosyllabic plosives objectification of them, they’re
metaphors, verbs, etc. Juxtaposition almost like parcels.
Anadiplosis The syntax of ‘crippled or dark or
Grotesque imagery girls’ suggests how widespread this
issue is. There is over half the
population that become victims of
infanticide, just because of the way
that they are born.
The monosyllabic plosives of ‘dug
up by a dog highlight the pain and
anger that she feels, she was saved
by a dog scavenging for food.
The juxtaposition of ‘empty arms’
highlights the displacement that the
speaker feels in her new
environment. She feels that her new
family doesn't understand her
suffering.
The speaker is passed ‘from woman
to woman’. This use of anadiplosis
highlights the repetitive nature of the
adoption process and how she is
unable to truly connect with a
maternal figure.
The speaker uses grotesque,
snake-like imagery of ‘body slither
out from body’ to highlight the
grotesqueness of infanticide and
how disconnected she is.
Key themes: What does Infanticide The poem starts off at ‘Our Lady of
this poem explore? Displacement the Light, Kerala’, a place known for
Family infanticide. The speaker was found
Loss with her ‘head barely poking above
the ground’.
The speaker felt the ‘strangeness of
her empty arms’ when meeting her
new mother, suggesting she feels
displaced.
The theme of family is consistent
throughout the poem, as the
speaker is ‘passed from woman to
woman’, suggesting that she doesn’t
have a sense of who she is.
The mothers’ from the village that
the speaker comes from ‘toss the
baby into a heap of others’ if it is not
a boy, suggesting a sense of loss.
Language: Any patterns Objectification The ‘sister’ comes to ‘collect
of language? Poetic Syntax children’, symbolising the
techniques? Eg: similes, Monosyllabic plosives objectification of them, they’re
metaphors, verbs, etc. Juxtaposition almost like parcels.
Anadiplosis The syntax of ‘crippled or dark or
Grotesque imagery girls’ suggests how widespread this
issue is. There is over half the
population that become victims of
infanticide, just because of the way
that they are born.
The monosyllabic plosives of ‘dug
up by a dog highlight the pain and
anger that she feels, she was saved
by a dog scavenging for food.
The juxtaposition of ‘empty arms’
highlights the displacement that the
speaker feels in her new
environment. She feels that her new
family doesn't understand her
suffering.
The speaker is passed ‘from woman
to woman’. This use of anadiplosis
highlights the repetitive nature of the
adoption process and how she is
unable to truly connect with a
maternal figure.
The speaker uses grotesque,
snake-like imagery of ‘body slither
out from body’ to highlight the
grotesqueness of infanticide and
how disconnected she is.
