The Deliverer - Tishani Doshi
Stanza/ Quotation Theme Analysis Device
Line
Title ‘Deliverer’ Death or God
Subtitle ‘Our Lady of the Catholic - Mary
Light’
Subtitle ‘Kerala’ There was a population crisis in
India - too many children were
born
1/1 ‘my mother’ Formal
1/2 ‘collect children’ Possibly objectifying
1/3 ‘crippled or dark Vision of racism and sexism, like
or girls’ how the ancient Greeks and
Romans ignored their female or
crippled offspring
2/1 ‘found naked in Poverty and hardship
the streets’
2/2 ‘Covered in No better than garbage
garbage’
2/2 ‘stuffed in bags’ Could be funeral shrouds - there is
a danger of suffocation.
Claustrophobic. Objectifying
children as perhaps something to
be bought by rich Americans.
3/1 ‘dug up by a dog’ Monosyllabic - perhaps a child’s
voice. It also emphasises the
bleakness of the situation. Dogs
are a part of the stereotypical
American household.
3/2 ‘poking above the Meta as the line literally pokes out
ground’ of the stanza.
3/3 ‘bone or wood’ Sickness and starvation, perhaps
leading to death. The wood could
represent a coffin.
3/3 ‘something’ Objectifying.
4/1 ‘this’ Not quite a proper human.
5/1 ‘wait at the gates’ The two rhyming words -’wait’ and
‘gates’ - are kept apart, enacting
the parents’ frustration at being
separated from their new child.
5/2 ‘ceremony’ Religious connotations. Ironic as
America has very little history
compared to places such as ‘Kerala’
in India.
‘her’ Change from ‘this’ to ‘her’.
Stanza/ Quotation Theme Analysis Device
Line
Title ‘Deliverer’ Death or God
Subtitle ‘Our Lady of the Catholic - Mary
Light’
Subtitle ‘Kerala’ There was a population crisis in
India - too many children were
born
1/1 ‘my mother’ Formal
1/2 ‘collect children’ Possibly objectifying
1/3 ‘crippled or dark Vision of racism and sexism, like
or girls’ how the ancient Greeks and
Romans ignored their female or
crippled offspring
2/1 ‘found naked in Poverty and hardship
the streets’
2/2 ‘Covered in No better than garbage
garbage’
2/2 ‘stuffed in bags’ Could be funeral shrouds - there is
a danger of suffocation.
Claustrophobic. Objectifying
children as perhaps something to
be bought by rich Americans.
3/1 ‘dug up by a dog’ Monosyllabic - perhaps a child’s
voice. It also emphasises the
bleakness of the situation. Dogs
are a part of the stereotypical
American household.
3/2 ‘poking above the Meta as the line literally pokes out
ground’ of the stanza.
3/3 ‘bone or wood’ Sickness and starvation, perhaps
leading to death. The wood could
represent a coffin.
3/3 ‘something’ Objectifying.
4/1 ‘this’ Not quite a proper human.
5/1 ‘wait at the gates’ The two rhyming words -’wait’ and
‘gates’ - are kept apart, enacting
the parents’ frustration at being
separated from their new child.
5/2 ‘ceremony’ Religious connotations. Ironic as
America has very little history
compared to places such as ‘Kerala’
in India.
‘her’ Change from ‘this’ to ‘her’.
