Child and Insect- Literary Commentary

Child and Insect is an allegory of the loss of innocence. The child undergoes a profound series of
emotional transitions from naive excitement when he captures the insect, a brief period of mourning
when he believes the insect has died, then a sense of shock and betrayal when the insect escapes,
leaving him distanced from his mother, repressing emotions and feeling vulnerable. The poet
conveys this emotional trauma through the rapid and varied structural adjustments in the rhythm and
layout of the poem, the vivid sensory imagery used to depict the extremity of the childs emotions
and the narrative perspective that both focuses on the minute fluctuations in the childs consciousness
and the distant viewpoint of the adult that he could eventually become.
The childish thrill of possessing an insect is covered in the opening stanza through the sense of
immediate sensory impressions. The alliteration of h sounds in He cannot hold his hand huge
enough serves to convey the breathless excitement and rush as he bring the insect to his mother. His
desire to imprison and control the creature yet keep it alive is also indicated by his attempt to keep
his grip large. The rhetorical question that follows effectively emulates the question of the child:
How can he cage the sudden clockwork fizz
He has snatched from the grassblades?
The question is the one that the boy is asking as he is uncertain yet desirous to control the insect. The
metaphor clockwork fizz connotes the chaotic, movement and sound that the child feels in his hand
but it also serves to objectify the animal as though it is merely a toy for him to play with. This
implies that the boy does not yet have the level of maturity to empathise with another sentient being.
The verb snatched also conveys the immediacy
The main question after the boy has completed his journey is the extent that he will reform this
betrayal. Bring wrenched from his wonderland into grim reality may have left him cruel with
violence, and without of his money to help him, it is likely that he will fall prey to his own hatred
and resentment. Although most of right of passages are seemingly harmless, the lack of empathy
towards their trials may prove detrimental and suggests that sometimes it may be better to live a false
and pleasurable life.
Sample topic sentences:

The poet conveys the boys sense of excitement and power in the first stanza
by..

Theres an abrupt change of tone in the second stanza as

The poets frequent use of personification in the poem creates

This variation is pace is depicted through the irregular sentence structures,

unusual layout and erratic transitions between stanzas.

As an allegory of the perils of growing up, the poet explores the steadily
increasing consciousness of the child.

Both the mother and narrator view the childs emerging awareness with
detachment.

Explaining the effect:

Suspense is created through ________

An atmosphere of ______

Alliteration intensifies the _________ tone

The metaphor of __________ creates a __________ effect

The hypocrisy of the character is depicted through___________

Evidence:

The word, _____ creates.

The (device), _example__ suggests/demonstrates__________