The Cockroach Analysis

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The Cockroach: What is the speaker refecting upon and what methodsdoes the poet use to convey this to the reader?

The Cockroach can be interpreted in two ways. First, the more obviousmeaning that the poet is watching a cockroach pace around the foor.owever a!ter a c"oser ana"ysis the reader understands that #evin a""iganuses the giant cockroach as a metaphor to describe himse"! and his "i!e,or other giant peop"e and their "ives. Through his choice o! structure,"anguage and various "iterary devices, the poet can convey his message tothe readers e$ective"y and shape their thoughts and reactions on thesub%ect.

The poem is written in the !orm o! a sonnet. &"though at 'rst this seems tocon'ne the poet and "imit his detai" and content, thus having a "esspower!u" impact on the reader, it does the opposite. The rigid restrictionsa""ow the poet to condense his message and ideas into !ourteen "ines,which not on"y makes the poem more dramatic but a"so emphasi(es his

refections. There is a"so a regu"ar rhyme scheme, ababcdcd in the octaveand de!d!e. The s"ight change in rhythm !rom the octave to sestet he"ps tohigh"ight the change in the cockroach)s movements, or the poet)s "i!e. Theregu"ar rhythm in the octave a"so he"ps to set the pace o! the cockroachand may represent a c"ock ticking as in time passing by.

This idea is a"so suggested by the choice o! a""igan)s vocabu"ary. e usestime phrases to indicate stages in his "i!e, such as at 'rst in the third"ine, but soon in the '!th, over time and a!ter a whi"e in the sestet. *nthe 'rst +uatrain the poet describes the beginning o! his "i!e. uitesatis'ed imp"ies that he was happy with his "i!e then, and the verb totrace suggests that there was a c"ear path, mentioned in "ine !our, set

out !or him and he was guided !rom one stage o! his "i!e to the ne-t %ust"ike how the cockroach wa"ks a path between the wainscot and the door.

The second +uatrain starts o$ with but soon. The but signi'es aturning point in the poet)s "i!e, and he turned away !rom the c"ear pathand instead tries to %og in crooked rings. This suggests that at this pointin time he was con!used. /y p"acing the but at the beginning o! thesentence he is emphasi(ing it, "etting the readers know its importance.Circ"ing might mean he is trying to wa"k straight but instead he wa"ks incirc"es0 his "i!e is di$erent than be!ore and he does not know where to goanymore. The word %og is used to imp"y that this period went by s"ow"y,

as peop"e usua""y %og !or "ong distance runs. The poet uses many human1"ike verbs such as %og to describe the cockroach)s actions, once againhinting that the intended description is not o! the cockroach, but o! ahuman, perhaps a""igan himse"!. 2ther actions inc"ude circ"ing becauserea" cockroaches don)t know what circ"es are, fipping over, to scratch.

The "ast "ine is a"so very human"y victim o! a mi"d attack may suggestthat the poet was victimi(ed at this point in his "i!e.

The en%ambment o! the "ine "inks it with the sestet, which shows that theyare connected. The octave describes and introduces the issue to us, andthe sestet conc"udes it. /y connecting the two "ines, the poet binds theentire poem together, c"ear"y showing the "ink one part o! his "i!e to the

another. &!ter a whi"e, the cockroach c"imbed on an open she"!.C"imbed suggests that the poet was much stronger and working very


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hard then, because a "ot o! strength is needed !or c"imbing. The !act thathe was c"imbing upwards suggests improvement, as i! he was doing betterthen. 2pen she"! creates the image o! a vast, wide area with end"essopportunities stored inside. owever, it sudden"y stops in "ine e"even,there is a very abrupt and stopped. The en%ambment !rom a very "ong"ine ten creates a very sudden, dramatic e$ect, as i! the poet was bui"dingup tension and then sudden"y dropping it. *t makes the readers a "itt"euncertain o! what to think, which is e-act"y what a""igan wants, becausehe writes in the same "ine that he "ooked uncertain where to go. Theimpact o! these words are that they refect on the natura" human behavior.e seems to have p"anned his dreams and goa"s so c"ear"y, yet when heachieves them he doesn)t e-pect it and somehow doesn)t know what todo. e is perp"e-ed and we can interpret this !rom "ine thirteen, when thepoet asks a +uestion3 & !ormer "i!e had "ed to4 * don)t know. *t stresseshis pu(("ed !ee"ing.

The poet ends the sestet by wrapping it a"" up with the "ine 5-cept *

thought * recognised myse"!. /y p"acing this "ine at the very end o! thepoem, readers concentrate more on it and it shows purpose. *t reassuresthe reader that he was indeed trying to re!er to himse"! in the poem, histhoughts, his actions and his past.


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The Cockroach #evin a""igan

66 Canadian poet, wide"y trave"ed, this was written whi"e in &sia.

*nfuenced, it seems, by the simp"icity and !ocus on minute detai" o! much

&sian poetry 7haiku8 sma"" 9snapshots) o! "i!e that represent "arge ideas.

Poetic Devices

1 Tone: big !ocus in this poem. Tone is not the usua" revu"sion peop"e

have toward cockroaches. *t)s ob%ective and ana"ytica", moving toward

empathetic and meditative

2 ;hyme: simp"e, !ocus on content:moment, twist at end signa"s shi!t

!rom obvs to rea"i(ation Line: "ong sentences which e-tend past the

"ines rep the continuous nature o! "i!e

3 /"ank narrator: !ocus on event, re"atab"e

4 5-tended metaphor: cockroach as the poet:as us0 snapshot refects


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* emerges as a true character then. This emphasi(es that poet is now

refecting on his own "i!e, own con!usion about "i!e, own need to make

choices

Analysis

Tone is not the usua" revu"sion associated with cockroaches. =ot awe, "ike

?, but empathy:a>nity. The poet is shown to know no more about

"i!e:these e-istentia" issues than a cockroach. This connects the poet and

C; 7%ust as it universa""y connects a"" o! us none o! us know what is

supposed to come ne-t. #arma again3 some be"ieve you are on 5arth to

'gure out your purpose. Aou keep coming back and making choices unti"

you do. @e don)t know what the 9right) choices are and this "ack o!

know"edge brings us together8. This idea o! 9oneness) with a C; is

humb"ing. nity in TC8 and a sense o!


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"Comment on the particular presentation and observations o thenarrator."

The narrator is initia""y a b"ank narrator as he !ocuses pure"y on the

events, which consists o! the cockroach moving across a room. &s the

poem progresses, the narrator draws away !rom pure"y the event andcomments on the rest"essness and uncertainty that this insect

eventua""y portrays. This change is observation coup"ed with the

presentation o! the cockroach as the main !ocus, !oreshadows what is to

come in the poem


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The Cockroach3 #evin a""igan

&t 'rst g"ance, the poem 9The Cockroach) by #evin a""igan is about, as

the name suggests, a cockroach. owever, with a deeper reading, it "ater

appears that the detai"ed description o! the cockroach is an e-tended

metaphor o! either, the persona 7presumab"y the poet himse"!8 or o!humans in genera". This is 'rst hinted by the !act that the cockroach is

9giant) is it "arge !or its species, or "arge to the point it is the si(e o! a

human4 This is "ater rein!orced by the activities o! the cockroach described

in "ater "ines 9%og), 9trace), 9circ"e), etc remarkab"y human "ike actions !or

an insect. These c"ose"y described !rantic actions o! the cockroach 7"ines 1

8 seem to represent human nature in a way0 'rst the cockroach is

satis'ed with his current situation, but then +uick"y gets bored o! it and

begins to want something more, something new, and so does so

beginning to shi!t !rom his activity o! tracing the 9path between the

wainscot and the door) to 9%og in crooked ringsH. e is then struck by acase o! rest"essness, but then 'na""y 'nds something e-citing, new the

open she"!. owever instead o! going straight in, he hesitates, 9he "ooked

uncertain where to go). is actions seem to represent human nature, how

we, sometimes very sudden"y, rea"i(e that instead o! being content and

satis'ed with what we have, we want more more e-perience, more

money, more socia" "i!e the depths o! human wants are end"ess. @e soon

get rest"ess and bored and disappointed at our current "ives as it is not

where we want to be

owever, when we actua""y 'nd an opportunity to take the chances to getwhat we want there is sometimes a moment o! hesitation and

uncertainty3 is this what we rea""y want4 *s the risk worth it to take the

chance4 Io we rea""y want to "eave our com!ortab"e current "i!e4 &nd then,

a"ong with the de'nite rea"i(ation that the cockroach personi'es the

persona or humans in genera" with the "ast "ine 795-cept * thought *

recogni(ed myse"!)8, the true idea o! the poem is revea"ed that humans

scurry through "i!e !rantica""y, a"most rushing through it, but without any

true goa" or purpose. @e are constant"y "ooking !or choices we can take,

but when actua""y presented with them, rea"i(e that we don)t even know

what we tru"y want

The Cockroach Analysis

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