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Analysis of The Cliche Kid

Synopsis= Duffy uses this poem to explore the themes of mental health and isolation amongst young people and could be perhaps expressing the daily pressures that young people face and the detrimental effects attached to them, shown through the speaker of the poem who is clearly in a deviated mental health state.

 Key Quotations + Analysis
1.) "The rustle of my fathers ballgown"

  • This initially gives an extremely distorted image of the speakers childhood as they have obviously blurred the gender roles of their mother and father, this distortion could imply that the speaker has lost grip of their identity and do not have clear grasp on what gender role they fit in as they are so lost within cliche/stereotypical perceptions of gender that they are unaware of how to act. This further conveys the emotional turmoil of the speaker because they are confused in their own body. 
  • The word choice "rustle" is significant as it is such a precise sound to remember yet the speaker has mistaken such a large part of the memory being the gender, this could portray the speakers deviated mental health state as they are mistaking their own memories


 2.) "Give me a shot of something" 

  • This line really conveys the speakers desperation for perhaps a form of escapism such as a shot of alcohol or shot of drugs into his system
  • Shot also has a connotation to bullets which could signify that the speaker wants to escape permanently, not just temporarily from their life, through the means of suicide
  • "Give me a shot" is a cliche phrase/collocation which conveys that the speaker desperately wishes for someone to give them an opportunity and a chance 
3.) "I'm screwed up Doc, jumpy..."
  • The emphasis on this line is the ellipsis that ends the stanza, this could convey that the speaker is constantly losing their train of thought which shows they are isolated and trapped within their own thoughts. Duffy could be trying to convey here that the cliche of young people living carefree lives is simply not true and it is a severe issue that should be acknowledged.
4.) "The fresh baked grass- dammit - the new mown bread"
  • The use of these deviated idioms conveys the breakdown of the speakers mind and how they can no longer mask it from the world, their emotions are so overpowering that cannot form simple phrases and sentences
Structure- 
Duffy deliberately chooses this poem to have a strict structure of 3 lines per stanza which contradicts the overriding tone of the poem as the speaker is experiencing large emotional turmoil. This could imply that the speaker is in a desperate need for normality and structure within their life and they desire a life like a cliche. 

Links to other poems
The Suicide= Both speakers have a nihilistic, distorted perception of life, they are both desperately seeking for salvation from their thoughts and they both use escapism's
Oslo= Both speakers feel like outsiders due to being in unfamiliar surroundings, they are both in need for a source of comfort

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