Giuseppe

 Simple poem in way its written.

 Lots of extended metaphors – ‘ripe and golden roe’, metaphor for child; ‘aquarium keeper’,
metaphor for concentration camp.
 Language is v. Simple – belies the complex metaphor of simplistic language. Tale Giuseppe
weaves is a simplistic narrative form for the nephew, which hides a more complex,
disturbing truth in reality.
 Fantasy of fairy tale-esk idea of the mermaid is presented in a very simple, light way, the
disturbing reality and atrocity beneath is not able to be hidden with a façade of nicety.
 Inability to look uncle in the eye.
 Shift in balance of their relationship by end of poem, even with nicely weaved poem and
metaphor and fairy tale about mermaid; way in which it doesn’t placate Giuseppe’s feelings
of guilt, doesn’t allow his nephew feelings of forgiveness and dictates the readers’ lack of
absolution.
 Luscious fairy tale opening begins; sense of utopia and dystopia juxtaposition: fantasy where
everything is ‘perfect’, tragedy of fairy tales tho. Sense of captive mermaid, story of ‘little
mermaid’ proportion. Inevitable salvation that we expect to be offered from fairy tale genre
is not offered. Rose-tinted beginning of floral, contrasted by dry and dusty ground; brutal,
harsh reality.
 ‘Gathered around her’ ‘doctor, fishmonger’ ‘priest’ – doctor and priest, two factions of
society of rational thought and blind faith (science, logic, rational thought and faith), two
principles of society both corroborate this destructive practice. When absolute power is
abused and the manipulation of absolute power is outworked upon the vulnerable and weak
in society. Even those with seeming power will remain silent and stand by and watch it
happen. Rational thought, science education couldn’t intervene and divine power couldn’t
intervene either.
 Fishmonger – juxtaposes her and her captivity as her captor. Also idea of food.
 Pronoun slip ‘she, it’ – sense of how Giuseppe self-correction, way in which his
uncontrollable recognition of her as human; trying to regain some exoneration by distancing
himself with replacement of the pronoun.
 Or so ‘they’d said’ – compounding of sentence, shifting of blame. Anyone but himself.
 Repetition of the connective ‘but’ – recurrence of his emerging guilt, undeniable; sense that
he cannot cover it with this façade at all.
 Structurally – next 3 stanzas, leads to structural shift “rest they cooked and fed to the
troops” – Structural progression disintegrates, builds to her obvious humanity at the point of
her wedding ring, emerging façade is undeniable so poem structure breaks down as unable
to maintain the façade any longer. Giuseppe no longer able to carry on the story.
 Juxtaposition of grotesque and macabre with the humanity (hands in a box, wedding ring
stayed on; held her hand x cut her throat) – worst of humanity with nature of humanity;
nature of what drives humanity.
 Culminates in “starvation forgives men many things” – Giuseppe premise that humanity can
behave in whatever way it wishes due to the context, i.e. war. Yet he is unable to reconcile
himself to that, because he can’t look his nephew in the eye – doesn’t hold true to that
belief. Ultimately, doesn’t believe that’s the essence of mankind. He knows mankind is more
than the opposing forces, conflict. Determination of one’s own will is what builds character.
 He as the aquarium keeper, loses self respect and dignity and own integrity and perhaps
own humanity and lack of ability to look him in the eye, sense of soul; idea of goodness is
sacrificed because he has lost battle that has been emerging throughout the poem.
 Argument, is the nephew complicit in not calling out uncle – thanks god that he can’t look at
him. To what extent is humanity responsible for allowing horrors to take place.
 Confessional tone, retelling uncle’s story – plea for humanity to never lose sense of its
morality and good judgement. Only by learning from its historical errors can it be judged as
progressive and benevolent.