Mr Bleany by Philip Larkin - Existenial hero or not?
Mr Bleaney is an existenial hero who battles against the odds to find meaning in an otherwise bleak and empty life.
Mr Bleaney led a trival and empty life framed by pointless rituals and as is obvious by his lodgings, did not deserve any better.
Write two short analyses of Mr Bleaney, arguing the two positions above.
The poem Mr Bleaney can be interpreted into different views according to the reader. Larkin could have attempted to portray him to be trival and only living through the motions however, he could have also portrayed him to be trying to escape his empty environment in search of something better.
The second statement of "Mr Bleaney leading a trival and empty life" can be shown by his "flowered curtains" being "thin and frayed" which could suggest his lack of care to replace or mend the old, tatty curtains and just leaving them to "fall within five inches of the sill" implying the stagnant state in which they have stated. This can portray his inability to motivate himself to make his room neat and tiday proving that perhaps he doesn't "deserve any better." Larkin shows Mr Bleaney's surroundings to be a representation of his feelings and life in general. The description of his "building land" being "tussocky" is a direct reference at his lack of care otherwise he would tend and care for his garden area.
Larkin portrays his rooms to be a box room that has "no room for books or bags" which could be said that he doesn't deserve any better because he doesn't care enough or show enough desire to want better. Throughout the poem Larkin uses figurative language to capture both the ordinariness of Mr Bleaney's which sets the tone to be disappointing and pessmissitic. The use of "books or bags" is interesting because Mr Bleaney is shown to have no need for books and therefore why would he have discarded books cluttering up space? This could be because he doesn't look after his possessions or care enough to sort it out.
The idea that the "fags" are
Mr Bleaney led a trival and empty life framed by pointless rituals and as is obvious by his lodgings, did not deserve any better.
Write two short analyses of Mr Bleaney, arguing the two positions above.
The poem Mr Bleaney can be interpreted into different views according to the reader. Larkin could have attempted to portray him to be trival and only living through the motions however, he could have also portrayed him to be trying to escape his empty environment in search of something better.
The second statement of "Mr Bleaney leading a trival and empty life" can be shown by his "flowered curtains" being "thin and frayed" which could suggest his lack of care to replace or mend the old, tatty curtains and just leaving them to "fall within five inches of the sill" implying the stagnant state in which they have stated. This can portray his inability to motivate himself to make his room neat and tiday proving that perhaps he doesn't "deserve any better." Larkin shows Mr Bleaney's surroundings to be a representation of his feelings and life in general. The description of his "building land" being "tussocky" is a direct reference at his lack of care otherwise he would tend and care for his garden area.
Larkin portrays his rooms to be a box room that has "no room for books or bags" which could be said that he doesn't deserve any better because he doesn't care enough or show enough desire to want better. Throughout the poem Larkin uses figurative language to capture both the ordinariness of Mr Bleaney's which sets the tone to be disappointing and pessmissitic. The use of "books or bags" is interesting because Mr Bleaney is shown to have no need for books and therefore why would he have discarded books cluttering up space? This could be because he doesn't look after his possessions or care enough to sort it out.
The idea that the "fags" are