preview

NIGHT OF THE SCORPION

Better Essays
Open Document

Night of the Scorpion-Nissim Ezekiel MATCHES: Two Scavengers in a Truck, Nothing’s Changed-Two Cultures Vultures, Limbo-Contrasting Views Nissim Ezekiel (White male poet): 1. Nissim Ezekiel was born in Bombay, now Mumbai, India in 1924. 2. His parents were Israeli and he was brought up with the Jewish faith, though he had friends of many different religions. 3. As a child he was very serious about religion and often spoke to his friends on a deep scale in relation to religious matters. 4. As an adult he was strongly influenced by atheism- the belief that there is no God. He was therefore considered an atheist. 5. Ezekiel travelled to London in his early 20’s and it was there that he decided to become a poet. 6. Ezekiel is …show more content…

13. Line 32-32-more neighbours/more insects-this reinforces/emphasises the idea of how the poet views these neighbours. 14. Line 17, 18, 20 and 22-they said-repetition of the phrase ‘they said’ undermines/makes little of the neighbour’s comments, as it implies that all of them are making different comments that mean nothing and are of no help. It makes fun of their views. 15. Line 26-diminished-lessened 16. Line 27-purify-cleanse from sin 17. Line 34-35-twisted through and through-mother’s suffering emphasised by use of alliteration. 18. Line 35-groaning on a mat-here we have a glimpse of the mother’s pain, whereas the focus before this was the neighbours. 19. Line 36-sceptic-person who doubts the truth of religion 20. Line 36-rationalist-person who thinks that logical thinking can explain everything. 2 21. Line 38-hybrid-a mixture of things. 22. Line 41-flame feeding-alliteration used again for impact of the mother’s suffering. 23. Line 42-rite-actions in a religious ceremony. 24. Line 43-incantantation-the saying of supposedly magic words. 25. Line 44-45-After twenty four hours/It lost its sting-simple and brief lines which could indicate exhaustion after the ordeal OR an anti-climax-meaning that after all that waiting it was over. It is a simple statement telling us that the poison took its course. 26. Line 46-48-My mother only said/Thank God the scorpion picked

Get Access