Question and Answer of Working Late

‘Working late’.

Question: Discuss the narrator’s feelings towards his father and his own situation. How does the poet convey these feelings?

‘Working late’. There are several interpretations surrounding this title. On one level, we are led to believe the poem is written on the basis of a prestigious man, who takes great pride in his work. On another level, it may well represent a man who will gradually ‘drift away’, from all his relationships with his family in pre-occupying himself in ‘wionw{ing} the true from the false’.

The poem is a first person narration, where the narrator also happens to be the protagonist. It is a retrospective point view, which is rather unreliable as it is only from the protagonist’s opinion. The narrator’s reminiscence on his past and his present situation, insinuates a stream of consciousness. He remembers the times he spent ‘looking at the harbour lights, listening to the surf and the creek of coconut boughs’. This is a description of a visual and auditory imagery, which allows us to experience what the reader is feeling. There is an assonance of ‘light’, which coveys consolation. The ‘light of my fathers study’, indicates the presence of the father, even though there is an absence of communication between them, there is still a feeling of safety, as he can always attempt to seek guidance from his father.

The main setting of the story seems to be in a ‘study’, ‘late’ at night, as the father comments on his son still being awake, ‘Still up?’, implying a rather carless attitude towards his son’s presence. We get the impression that the father does not seem to carryout his role adequately and there is a rather distant relationship between them. It seems to us a luxurious house in a costal area, a...

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...bolism, trough the presence of the ‘black hole’. Black holes are notoriously known for there amazing capability of destruction. This could reflect on his work, which is destroying every relationship and meaning of his life.

The use of a caesura through ‘If I open the closet… bang!’, is strategically placed to create a moment of suspense. It allows a brief second for the reader to contemplate on what is to happen next. ‘Bang’, is a use of onomatopoeia, which creates an auditory image, which appeals to the reader’s sense of hearing. It allows the reader to depict and image of what the protagonist is thinking and really immerse him/herself into the poem. ‘Bang’ could also represent a sense of fear towards his curiosity. He was eager ‘to open a closet’ to find the mysteries cases his father had been working on, but yet afraid of his fathers reaction if he was caught.