Creating a Sense of Menace and Unease in Poetry Essay

Creating a Sense of Menace and Unease in Poetry A Comparison of four poems which create a sense of Menace and unease I have chosen ‘Hitcher’ as it gradually builds up tension and unease throughout the poem, the poem is quite personal as it is relating to a man and his everyday life. I chose this also because the poem is written as if it was a story. Hitcher is the story of a man who is under a lot of pressure from work and feels the need to rebel. He hires a car and picks up a hitchhiker. The driver hits the hitchhiker with a krooklok in the face, and then throws him out onto the road. ‘Education for leisure’ is a chilling poem; I chose this because it had a leading storyline which leads the audience to a point of†¦show more content†¦Fired.† This implies that he has had enough, and that he feels value less. The pressure of work has got to him and he is unable to cope with it any more. His boss (indicated by italics) gives the impression that he has a very strict and precise office job and that he is cannot take this pressure and is willing to give it all up. His emotions at this point indicate he is worn out and he feels that his own life is not worth living. It is also showing that he is bored and that work is the only thing that keeps him busy. The stress of work is now concerning him and he needs something to occupy him. â€Å"I let him have it on the top road out of Harrogate- once with the head, then six times with the krooklok in the face† This highlights the fact that he is a very aggressive and violent person. The way that it is described shows that it does not really bother him that someone’s life had been lost. The object that he uses ‘the krooklok’ indicates that he did not just use the strength of his own had but something else. The aggression that is released when he hurts the hitchhiker, is the build up of all his feelings from the pressure of work and other areas of life which lead him to be a very violent person. His also hints that he is jealous of the hitchhikers’ freedom and that his life is much more care free. â€Å"The truth he said, was blowin’ in the wind† illustrates that the hitchhiker felt he was free, as was willing to go