Analysis of Mr Bleaney by Phillip Larkin
For Larkin, hopes, dreams and ideals are ‘relentlessly diminished by the realities of life.’ (Peter King). How far do you agree with this statement in relation to Mr Bleaney?
In ‘Mr Bleaney’ Larkin explores thematically the nature of failure, finality and misery. The poem tells the story of two characters, bound together by their connection to the same lodging room.
Larkin draws focus to the material articles in the poem to form a representation of failure. Larkin notes the ‘same saucer-souvenir,’ this use of alliteration emphasises the fact that it is more than a tacky memento of day out at Frinton, but a symbol of disappointment. The ‘saucer’ is a reminder to both Mr Bleaney and the reader that he lives in a world where all he can do is go to Frinton and all he can buy is cheap and worthless. The fittings of the room itself serve up the perfect metaphor for this constant dampener of ‘reality.’ The curtains are described as ‘thin and frayed.’ It is as though Mr Bleaney’s own existence is ‘frayed’ around the edges, that his own life has suffered the attrition of reality, that he has been warn down by failed expectations and dreams unconquered. This metaphor is carried within another, however, as Larkin uses assonance to highlight the ‘thin’ curtains falling to ‘within five inches of the sill.’ An obvious metaphor for the idea of ‘falling short.’ It represents further the failure to achieve expectations or desires and also expresses the ‘falling short’ of reality, that it is not the fault of the individual, for failing to attain their dreams, but they are bound by a the world in which they live. Though Larkin then comments that having ‘one hired box’ as a sum of one’s possessions is a facet of the character of Mr Bleaney himself that he ‘warranted no better.’ In this final stanza Larkin alludes to the idea that financial success is linked to self worth. Though it may be read as an irony, mocking those who think that Mr Bleaney is deserved the surroundings he
In ‘Mr Bleaney’ Larkin explores thematically the nature of failure, finality and misery. The poem tells the story of two characters, bound together by their connection to the same lodging room.
Larkin draws focus to the material articles in the poem to form a representation of failure. Larkin notes the ‘same saucer-souvenir,’ this use of alliteration emphasises the fact that it is more than a tacky memento of day out at Frinton, but a symbol of disappointment. The ‘saucer’ is a reminder to both Mr Bleaney and the reader that he lives in a world where all he can do is go to Frinton and all he can buy is cheap and worthless. The fittings of the room itself serve up the perfect metaphor for this constant dampener of ‘reality.’ The curtains are described as ‘thin and frayed.’ It is as though Mr Bleaney’s own existence is ‘frayed’ around the edges, that his own life has suffered the attrition of reality, that he has been warn down by failed expectations and dreams unconquered. This metaphor is carried within another, however, as Larkin uses assonance to highlight the ‘thin’ curtains falling to ‘within five inches of the sill.’ An obvious metaphor for the idea of ‘falling short.’ It represents further the failure to achieve expectations or desires and also expresses the ‘falling short’ of reality, that it is not the fault of the individual, for failing to attain their dreams, but they are bound by a the world in which they live. Though Larkin then comments that having ‘one hired box’ as a sum of one’s possessions is a facet of the character of Mr Bleaney himself that he ‘warranted no better.’ In this final stanza Larkin alludes to the idea that financial success is linked to self worth. Though it may be read as an irony, mocking those who think that Mr Bleaney is deserved the surroundings he