Tuesday, April 24, 2012

What is the Meaning of This


Philip Larkin's poem, Sunny Prestatyn, is disturbing in that it depicts the defacing of a poster with graphic illustrations that are the result of grotesque actions by different men. A poster that was placed on the wall as a way to invite people to a seaside resort in North Wales and possibly cheer up anyone who may come to pass it is used by the locals in a wholly different manner. The once beautiful girl that sat in an image of paradise urging people to leave and join her, "with a hunk of coast, a /Hotel with palms" behind her and goes through a series of defiling changes that eventually led to an image that is not of a woman nor any other recognizable human (5-6). The only thing left to question is the last line, "Now Fight Cancer is there," one wonders if it is a sarcastic statement written to be another insult on women in general and their abilities or if it is simply someone trying to correct all the negative thoughts that man had displayed on one poster with something positive?

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