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Hedgehog - Critical Essay
The task asks you to compare and contrast the two poems - obviously with a view to discussing themes and how the hedgehog is viewed by both Muldoon and Thwaite - but it also asks you to show how the two poets have used language.
This last instruction is of great importance because when you are not only be expected to talk about the similarities and differences with regard to such things as themes but you must, within such discussions, show how the poets have used language to convey their themes i.e. through choice of diction, image, tone, alliteration, form etc.
What you must try to avoid is
Help with essay on A guide to comparing two poems on the subject of Hedgehogs, one by Anthony Thwaite, the other by Paul Muldoon
i)doing two separate critical analyses which offer no comparisons
ii)structuring an essay in a rigid way around themes, tone, diction etc. within which you lose sight of how the subject has been treated - in other words you lose a sense of the poems as a whole
iii)rambling on about general similarities and differences with regard to the treatment of the subject paying very little attention to how language has been used to convey a poet's themes/concerns
Approaches
There are two main ways of comparing two poems but both rely on a detailed awareness of each poet's treatment of his subject - what themes he is able to expound from it - and of how each poet has used language in order to convey his ideas etc.
Both approaches must be introduced by a clear and precise introduction which identifies in general (but not vague) terms just what are the primary similarities and differences between the two poems e.g.
Although both of the poems in question have the hedgehog as their primary subject material, and although both of them deal with similar themes such as victimisation, suffering and man's alienation from nature, each poet treats his subject and presents his themes in a different way Muldoon takes a symbolic approach to the hedgehog, making it representative of a victim of man's cruelty and indifference rather than a creature in its own right, whereas Thwaite concentrates on a far more detailed, 'naturalistic' description, paying great attention to the everyday life of the hedgehog and its relationship with man.
At this stage there is no real need to throw in some vague and waffly comment about how they each use language differently because if you write this essay properly then as you examine the themes/treatment of the subject you will necessarily have to show how language has been used differently.
What I am trying to say is that the main point of the essay is to discuss the different views towards/uses of the hedgehog, not to concentrate on an essay which pays more attention to badly decontextualised quotes in order to make a couple of weak points about literary terms and structures.
Approach 1
After such an introduction you can then talk about the first poem in detail, concentrating on establishing how the poet has used the hedgehog to present his themes. During this discussion you will have various opportunities to actually discuss how language is used for the presentation of his ideas e.g.
Muldoon's poem ironically begins not with a focus on the hedgehog of the title but with a description of how a snail moves
The snail moves
Like a hovercraft,
Held up by a rubber
Cushion of itself,
This vivid use of figurative language immediately establishes not only a very clear description of the nature of the snail's movement but, far more importantly, establishes a link between man and nature. Both the hovercraft and the rubber cushion are objects linked directly to man, to bring comfort on the one hand with regard to ease of travel and on the other with regard to how we might sit. By using such similes and metaphors, Muldoon appears to be trying to set us also at our ease; the images are almost comical in their construction, likening a snail to a hovercraft and a cushion, and certainly do not seem to have a great deal in common with the later line of discussion which he will pursue as he presents such themes as suffering, alienation and isolation. However, this appears to be a deliberate ploy, a way of perhaps catching us off guard with regard to the true nature of the poem as indeed such images catch us off guard with regard to our own feelings about the snail.
The point is to allow a discussion of language but always in relation to the actual themes and ideas of the poem itself.
As the poem continues, Muldoon establishes a link between the snail and the hedgehog of the title. He says that the snail shares "its secret with the hedgehog" but, as if in an act of selfishness,
The hedgehog
Shares its secret with no one.
Already we can see not only a relationship being established between the two representatives of the natural world but also the first indication that for whatever reason the hedgehog is a secretive, isolated creature, unwilling to share its knowledge with anyone or anything else. This sense of isolation is further compounded as the poem continues
We say, 'Hedgehog, come out
Of yourself and we will love you.
This appeal is obviously not a literal act and it is from the nature of such an inquiry that it is possible to see how the poem takes on a far more symbolic character, with the hedgehog itself being developed as a symbol for Muldoon's primary themes. The yearning tone implies a desire not just to literally understand the hedgehog and its apparent introspection and isolation but, on a symbolic level, to understand nature itself. This in turn suggests that Muldoon is arguably concerned with man's loss of contact with the natural world, as symbolised by the hedgehog. The hedgehog's refusal to acknowledge let alone answer man's pleas - 'man' in general terms because of the inclusive use of the pronoun 'We' - surely confirms this sense of alienation
We want
Only to listen to what
You have to say. We want
Your answers to our questions.
Two important points arise from this section of the poem. First of all there is an ironic reversal of roles taking place. Whereas before we might have considered the hedgehog in its natural state and behaviour to represent a rather isolated and even alienated figure, the victim, as in the second poem, of man's 'conquest' and control of his environment, it seems from the implied tone of this extract that in fact it is man, the inclusive 'We' again, who is isolated, lonely and pleading for help. It is man who seems to lack the confidence and reassurance that appears so desperately needed, as suggested by the selfish nature of the pleas, "We want...We want..."
You could then discuss the the last two stanzas, establishing primarily the very powerful association of the hedgehog with Christ through the lines
We forget the God
Under this crown of thorns.
Why? What is being suggested through such metaphors? Establish the symbolic use of the hedgehog to clearly underscore the themes of suffering, of alienation and even betrayal...of how Muldoon's man purpose in this powerful, questioning poem may well be to establish the fact that we have lost contact with nature and, arguably, therefore ourselves.
Having established the first's poet's primary themes/concerns, and also having shown how language has been used to achieve his effects, you now have to discuss the second poem in the light of the first!
Unlike Muldoon's poem, Thwaite's begins with a very detailed and evocative description of the movements and habitat of the hedgehog itself
Twitching the leaves just where the drainpipe clogs
In ivy leaves and mud, a purposeful
Creature at night about its business.
This is a far more realistic portrayal of the hedgehog than Muldoon's and initially suggests that Thwaite may well be concerned with different aspects of the creature and, indeed, with different issues entirely. However, as the poem develops it soon becomes clear that he too is dealing with the themes of suffering, alienation and isolation, though in a far less symbolic way.
He initially concentrates on emphasising the supposed power of the hedgehog within its own environment,
Dogs
Fear his stiff seriousness. He chews away
At beetles, worms, slugs, frogs. Can kill a hen
With one snap off his jaws, can taunt a snake
To death on muscled spines.
These vivid descriptions lay emphasis on the hedgehog's power through their use of such active, forceful words as 'fear', 'kill', 'snap' and 'taunt', giving the impression that the creature is master in its own kingdom. The intention of such lines may well be to create a realistic but also a rather unsympathetic picture of the hedgehog, almost serving to alienate it from us as we usually perceive a hedgehog as a timid and rather gentle creature, something that is arguably suggested in the first poem through the tone of address and the secrecy of the animal. As if to underline this strange reversal of how we might perceive the hedgehog, Thwaite then tells us that,
Old countrymen
Tell tales of hedgehogs sucking a cow dry.
Surely this bizarre image is intended to shatter the misconceptions the first two stanzas have created and make us look afresh at the hedgehog; to make us laugh at its preposterousness in order to make us question ourselves and our own judgements; to make us consider the real power of the hedgehog, rather than that suggested by old wives' tales. So, both poems can be seen to be asking us to re-examine our attitude towards the hedgehog, the first through its metaphorical/symbolic associations and Thwaite's poem through shattering the myths and preconceptions.
You would then need to examine the final stanzas and explain how this poet also deals with the themes of suffering - another reversal because it is now the hedgehog that is suffering and not the other creatures; in a similar way to the reversal which takes place in the first poem - alienation and isolation, as did Muldoon, along with man's inability to realise that he is losing contact with the natural world e.g.
The third stanza is based around a series of very vivid images which emphasise the suffering and isolation of the hedgehog e.g.
But this one, cramped by houses, fences, walls,
The fact that the creature is "cramped" by man-made barriers and restrictions seems to elevate it to a more symbolic level, a symbolism which is similar to but not as powerful as that in the first poem. This is no "God" but most definitely a victim, a sufferer in another sense. This hedgehog is literally isolated and alienated by man's lack of understanding and actual manipulation of his environment, rather than a creature which is symbolically isolated by man's loss of understanding and appreciation of the natural world as in the first poem...
Stress the similar themes but also show an awareness of how they have been conveyed in a different way to the themes in Muldoon's poem.
As a conclusion you might like to reinforce the fact that both poets use the hedgehog to present an examination of man's relationship with nature, emphasising the fact that in both poems, despite what might initially be perceived, both poets recognise that the hedgehog is the victim and we are the victimisers.
The point is to keep referring to the first poem when discussing the main aspects of the second.
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