Thomas Hardy's Convergence of the Twain
In the poem The Convergence of the Twain, Thomas Hardy uses various literary devices to portray the sinking of the Titanic as an act of Satan. Even alliteration and paradox allude to this when he states, "...sparkles bleared and black and blind." This phrase alone describes the result of a horrific event apparently concocted by the devil himself; after all, the all-loving, all-forgiving God would never damper the sparkles of jewels. However the connection is made clearer throughout the poem by means of imagery, irony, and symbolism. One way in which Hardy insinuates that the perpetrator of the tragedy was Satan is through imagery. For instance, stanza three states,"..mirrors meant to glass the opulent the sea-worms crawl-grotesque..." This passage refers to greed, one of the seven deadly sins, and as a result of the people's vanity(mirrors) the devil commanded lowly sea-worms to slither across their tools of conceit. In stanza six Hardy implies that the devil was part of the scheme when it reads,"Prepared a sinister mate for her-so gaily great." Most likely S
Another device which is used to show that Satan is to blame for the sinking of the Titanic in the poem The Convergence of the Twain is irony. This first occurs in stanza eight where it says,"The intimate welding of their later history." The ironic thing about this line is the fact that "intimate" is used to describe a terrible accident, one which could not have been carried out by God, but instead the devil acting out his own definition of intimacy. Next, in stanza nine, Hardy once again touches on this point when he describes the iceberg and ship as "...twin halves of one August event." The sinking of the Titanic would in no way be considered August, or magnificent, in God's eyes, but rather in the eyes of God's evil counterpart. Finally, in stanza ten Hardy once again refers to the devil and his scheme when it states,"...consummation comes..." when the two objects collide. For most, including God, the problem is just beginning after the tragedy occurs, but for the devil it has consummated, or come to an end, so all Satan has to do is sit back and watch the tragic experience play out. The
Some common words found in the essay are:
Thomas Hardy, Convergence Twain, Pride Life, Immanent Immanent, sinking titanic, convergence twain, sinking titanic act, Thomas Hardy's, poem convergence twain, poem convergence, titanic act, throughout poem, six hardy, finally stanza, stanza six, stature grace, seven deadly sins, seven deadly, titanic act satan, means imagery irony,
Approximate Word count = 745
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
|
