The Hunchback in the Park

Compare the ways poets present isolated characters in 'The Hunchback in the Park' and one other poem from Character and Voice.

In both 'The Hunchback in the Park' and 'Give', the poets use various techniques to present isolated characters throughout the poems.

In both poems language is used to present isolated characters. In 'The Hunchback in the Park', the poet uses very calm and emotive language like ''solitary mister'' and ''nobody chained him up''. This sort of language presents the idea of isolation very well as it shows how no-one had sympathy for the hunchback and that he had nobody to rely on or to turn to. In 'Give', the poet also uses very powerful and emotive language but the language used in this poem is also more bitter. The poet uses ''I'm holding out'' and ''That's big of you'' to present to the reader the idea of isolation and how the voice of the poem had nothing else to rely on except for the kindness of strangers, just like in 'The Hunchback in the Park'.

In 'The Hunchback in the Park', the poet also uses some dehumanisation by saying ''in a dog kennel'' and ''his kennel''. This again portrays how the hunchback is isolated from the rest of society as he is presented to be more like an animal, rather than a human being. However in 'Give', no dehumanisation is used. This could represent how the voice in 'Give' might not be as isolated from the rest of society as the voice in 'The Hunchback in the Park', as he is still part of society and spends time with people every day while he is begging. While the hunchback keeps himself as separate from others as he possibly can.

Both poems use a lot of imagery to portray the idea of isolation within the poems. In 'The Hunchback in the Park', the poet uses imagery like ''Propped between trees'' and ''Hunchbacked in mockery'' to present the idea of isolation to the reader. This imagery shows how the hunchback is mocked by the rest of society and how therefore he is separated from it. It also shows how he is closer with and more of a part of nature, than society, as the poet continuously uses imagery like ''lets the trees and water enter'', which portrays him as a part of nature. In 'Give' the poet uses imagery like ''swallow swords'' and ''on my knees' to show the reader the drastic measures he would take to earn some money and how he begs strangers for money as he