Comparing Old Man Old Man and Leaving School

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Comparing Old Man Old Man and Leaving School

'Old Man, Old Man' and 'Leaving School' are both about the crossroads

in someone's life and both illustrate the transformation from being

one type of person to another.

The title of the Fanthorpe poem is lament and modestly conveys that

the character is not in the adult world but has retreated from it into

old age. The title of the William's poem, however, is ambiguous and

misguides the reader into thinking that the character is eighteen and

just entering the adult world. Nevertheless this is not true as the

boy is retreating from the adult world not entering it. While reading

the poem the title keeps reminding the reader of the character's

situation and evokes the pity of the reader as it makes it apparent

that the boy is leaving school, but only in his mind, because he

cannot cope in the adult environment.

Both poems have a fairly regular verse form with a relatively formal

structure showing that both the boy and the old man are heading in a

continuous but gradual course away from the adult world. In Williams'

poem the three verses gradually get shorter starting with eleven lines

and decreasing to nine. Also the sentences are very short at the

start, for example "I had my own suitcase", "I wasn't listening" and

"I thought it was going to be fun", but gradually get longer

throughout the poem. This illustrates the boy's gradual relapse from a

normal child of his age as he slowly recoils from the adult world and

growing up, to his childhood. The number of lines in each verse also

conveys the fact that instead of maturing as you do when you g...

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...ms leave you sad and accentuate the failure

of the boy and the old man to manage in their new environment. In

Williams' poem the last line, "I was miles away with my suitcase,

leaving school." displays a boy who is only physically present but

whose mind is where he really wants to be, not trapped in an

unfriendly environment. The last line in Fanthorpe's poem gives a

similar image. "I am only a cloud" also illustrates a man only there

in physical form but whose mind is drifting off somewhere else to what

he remembers when he was secure in the adult life. Both lines are open

ended, which expresses the feeling of loss and failure in life which

make the characters retreat.

Overall both poems are similar in conveying the character's retreat

from the capable adult world and each are emotive and successful in

doing so.

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