P e n s . D o w n

Friday, July 17, 2009:

What is your impression of the loner?

I think that he is very anti-social and rather silent and refuses to mix with the other children at the playground despite the fact that he longs to play with them. Instead, he chooses to lean " against the playground wall",which seem to be his one and only 'companion' and do some 'boredom beating tricks'.

Perhaps the reason for this strange behavior is that he has suffered a blow in his private life and

refuses to mix with other for the fear of it happening again. Another piece of evidence is that

he 'smacks his hands against the brick' without stopping, indicating that he has felt a lot of pain,

so after a while, he becomes immune to it.Yet another supporting point is that when he leans against the wall, he is facing the children but not playing with them. Like he is wary of them and very defensive, as if he has been hurt by others before.

However, it is also partly his fault that he is a loner, as he has NEVER taken the iniative to go up and say hi to them. . His loneness is also his "shield", which my guess is that children HAVE approached him before, but they are rejected by him. So after a while, the children give up on him and left.

So now, he is 'traces patterns with his feet' then 'scuffs to make them the tarmac squeak' in his extreme boredom, waiting for the right person to come and play with him.

However, one day, he was gone. But on the wall it was chalked 'watch this space'. It could be written by the loner himself, telling the others to 'watch this space' , which my guess is telling others that he'll be back, so they got to 'watch this space' til the day he comes back. A changed person? We may never know.

What is your impression of the children?

They seem to be very comfortable within their own social circles, but also appear to have some air around them. They refuse to associate with the loner in any way as he is 'different' and gossip about him in 'slow, huddled groups,low talking', snubbing him. The word 'huddled' proves that they want to stick within their 'familiar clique' and not go anywhere else.However, when they around children they define as 'normal', they shout and laugh and join them in play. None of them bothers to go up and invite the loner to play with them.Maybe they have tried but failed, or perhaps they fear rejection from their friends and don't want to be seen with someone like the loner, hence, they don't even try.

I believe this poem reflects society as it is today. All the people, like the disabled that do not fit society's definition of 'normal' are like the 'loners' of the world.And the children represents us. And the playground that is 'quick with life' is just like the fast-paced society that we live in today. We do not want to have to do anything to do with them and expect someone else to do it. Instead, we huddle in our 'familiar cliques', just gawking and gossiping about them. We also fear rejection from our peers if we do. Maybe some of us try to help, however, the 'shield' of the 'loners' prevent us from doing so as many of them say that 'they don't need our help' and then lean against their 'wall', watching the people go by with wariness, fear or jealously, longing to be like them, longing to be with them.

Truth is, we can all be friends, if both parties are willing.

So, like I said, this poem is a description of the fallen world we live in.

Please comment!

~Inspired at 7:44 PM~
.................... 1 comments

1 Comments:

I like the way you analyse the poem.

I do agree with you on many parts, especially the red pragraph.

Great job (;

By Maetini, at July 19, 2009 at 7:42 PM