The poems A Stones Throw by Elma Mitchell and The Woman Speaks to the

Man who has Employed her Son by Lorna Goodison, both speak of women
who have experienced pain or is experiencing pain in their different ways.

This poem is about men, men who believe they have the power of
judgment, just as God does. They decide to punish a prostitute for her sin
when a "preacher, God-merchant.." shows up and writes in sand. This is to
say he forgave the woman. Then when the men walk away from the
attempted stoning of the woman, thanks to what Jesus said, they realize
they had sin as well so who were they to judge.

In the poem A stones throw the desire of the mob is to stone woman for
the wrong she committed and this can be seen in Lines 25 - 27,”for justice
must be done, especially when it taste so good. The mob was looking
forward to stoning the woman but was denied the opportunity.

In the poem the woman speaks to the man who has employed her son, the
mother (the woman) first of all desires/ wishes for the best of her son,
therefore setting no boundaries or limits to what he could become. She
also wants for her son to be safe hence taking him from the job he is
currently in, her yearning is for him to lose that job.

The Woman speaks to the man who has employed her son:

Metaphor - “bloody salary”- this is saying that all the son would reap is
death. She wants him to leave his job because she knows what the
outcomes will be. Because she had such high expectations for him

Alliteration – “she says psalms for him” –

Biblical Allusion –Where she makes reference to Absalom - 2 Samuel 18: 33

- And the king was much moved, and went up to the chamber over the
gate, and wept: and as he went, thus he said, O my son Absalom, my son,
my son Absalom! would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my
son!. In this scripture Absalom, David’s son wanted to take over the reign of
his father and so staged a battle against him and he died during the battle.
Where Absalom betrayed his father in the scripture is the same way the
young man; the woman’s son betrayed her. After allowing him to be the
best that he could be, he turns around and become a gunman, and this
makes his mother loses hope in him.

Imagery -

A stones throw

Metaphor - “the last assault, and battery, frigid rape” – meaning that this
was going to be the last time she enjoyed the sensual touch from men and
the last time she would experience this kind of assault from men

Alliteration –

Biblical Allusion – John 8: 3 – 11

A stone throw
The desire of the mob in this poem was never met because ‘the guru,
preacher, God-merchant’ a religious man came and prevented them from
abusing the woman any further; he “spoilt the whole thing”. It was clearly
seen that their desire wasn’t met in lines 42 – 46, “we walked away, still
holding the stones, that we may throw another day, given the urge”

The woman talks to the man who has employed her son
The first desire of the woman was never met as, her son turned out to be a
gunman, something that she would have never wanted for her son.
However she keeps on trying and so goes and talk to the man who had
employed him. Her other desire, for him to be safe and to leave his current
job as a gunman was also never met as she lost hope for him to be free
although she still continued to pray. The last stanza, more specifically lines
44 – 46 show that it was fate for this boy to die, and her draw in the terms
of pardna was going to be twice as hard, as she was playing both the role
of father and mother. It was even seen from birth and in the womb that he
was going to die, when she felt ‘a sense of unease.

Theme
A stone throw.
Injustice is one theme that can be used in connection with the title of the
poem,’ A stone’s Throw’. When you speak about a stone’s throw, you talk
about the punishment greeted upon this woman. However the woman
could not have committed this sin of prostitution alone, and so it comes up
unfair that she alone receives this ruthless punishment, and so here
injustice is seen. Also when you use the term Stones throw it speaks about
something that is not far away. The accusers were not far away from this
woman in committing a sin. Lines 39 – 41, “He turned his eyes on us, her
eyes on us, our eyes upon ourselves.” This made them realize that they in
turn were committing a sin also. This shows in justice because they didn’t
know that they too, was being sinful and is only accusing the woman of her
wrongs.