Compare How the Theme of Alienation Is Presented in the Two Texts

Compare how the theme of Alienation is presented in the two texts

The passage “The Last Night (From Charlotte Gray)” by Sebastian Faulks and the poem “Refugee Blues” by W. H. Auden both present the theme of Alienation in similar, yet different methods. The Last Night is a passage that describes two orphaned brothers (André and Jacob) in France during the 1940’s that are waiting to be taken to a concentration camp. Similarly, Refugee Blues is a poem that describes the discrimination of two German Jews during World War 2.

These two poems are very similar, but they both convey the theme of alienation in slightly different ways. This is fairly evident, as W. H Auden is a poet, who expresses the themes of loneliness and loss in his poems. Whereas Sebastian Faulks is a journalist, novelist & broadcaster, that specialises in writing more “dark” fiction. While these differences between the authors are very slight, it is shown in their quite clearly in their writing as they both use different types of literacy techniques and features which convey the theme of alienation in slightly different ways.

The theme of Alienation is conveyed through the two poems in both a physical and psychological form. Alienation in a physical and psychological form is shown in the poem “The Last Night” through irony. This is shown in the last paragraph, in the quote: “headlights for a moment lighting up the café opposite”. This shows physical alienation through irony as it is their “last glimpse of reality” which is ironic because it is a cafe. A cafe, to the children, is like their “last glimpse of food”, which is emotional torture for the starving children (due to them being able to see food but still unable to obtain it). This is physical alienation as they are starving, which means they have insufficient food, which shows that they are being denied of some of the most important things that human should have.

Likewise, in the poem “Refugee Blues”, the two German Jews are shown to physically alienated. This is conveyed through the forced fleeing got the German Jews. This is shown in the second stanza, in the quotes: “Once we had a country and we thought it fair” and “We cannot go there now, my dear, we cannot go there now.” The use of past tense through the use of the word “Once” paired with the use of present tense through “We cannot go there” shows how their situations have changed throughout the war and that they no longer have a country to go back to . Furthermore, they are shown to be physically alienated in the final stanza (12) in the final two lines - “Ten thousand soldiers marched to and fro: Looking for you and me, my dear, looking for you and me.” This, once again, supports my point in that they are being physically alienated as they are being hunted down by the German soldiers, who will most likely put them in concentration