Larkins poems

Larkin's poetry cynically portrays a society in which the proletariat "are deluding themselves" rather than presenting a hopeful picture of a society where "they [go] beyond the limits which society sets for them" To what extent do you agree with this statement? Make close reference to FOUR Larkin poems.
 Philip Larkin presents a society where the proletariats are deluding themselves by writing  his poems in a way which shows that he is looking down on the proletariats for who they are due to there social class. He suggests that the proletariats are deluding themselves into a sense of false consciousness. This is presented throughout Larkin's poetry through the monotonous tone he uses, which reflects the proletariat lifestyle.  The proletariats never go beyond their limits, this is shown this by them being alienated and because they are the working class they have no power to change their social situation.


In four of Larkins poems from the Whitsun weddings collection you can see that he writes all of his poems in a way that suggests the proletariats are deluding themselves. The four poems that I have chosen are 'The Large cool store', 'Here', 'Mr Bleaney' and 'The Whitsun Weddings.' The way that Philip Larkin shows that they are deluding themselves is by showing the monotony of their lives. He does this through the tone he uses in his poems as they are more like stories which makes the poem dull and boring to read. He also makes them seem as if the proletariats are deluding themselves by the language that he uses. For example in 'Here' you can see that he says "workmen at dawn." This suggests that the proletariats are stuck in the cyclical structure of society and are in a constant loop of working and spending. In this same poem it also suggested that they are the working class as he starts his poem of by saying "swerving east, from rich industrial shadows". This presents the idea that the proletariats are exploited by the bourgeoisie, due to capitalism.  This also means that they are the base of the superstructure as they are the sense of means of production. He also uses terms such as these in his other poems. Another example is in 'Mr Bleaney,' he says "one hired box." In this poem Mr bleany has just died and Larkin is moving into his utilitarian room as he has power over Mr bleaney as he is the working class. But with him using one hired box it shows that it is all he has to show for his life showing how boring his life is and how miserable he must be. We also see the working class going to work in the morning  in 'The Large cool Store.' The line "who leave at dawn", suggests that they are getting up ready to go to work for there unskilled labour as they are the proletariats. Finally we can also see that in ' Whitsun Weddings' they are the working class and they are deluding themselves; this is suggested by "did my three quarter empty train pull out". This demonstrates that they are off to work. With Larkin saying these in his poems it shows how monotonous the proletariats life is and they have it all ordered as they know no different.


From Larkins poems you can also see that the proletariats are deluding themselves and not going beyond there limits because they are not used to anything different and they do not portray what they do. No one argues that they have to go tot work. I believe that they endure their lives and they are passive as they do nothing about it. This is because there life is all set it for them and it is ordered. They have to go to work and then they can go out at in the evenings and at the weekend. Larkin tries to make there life sound much more exciting when it comes to the proletariats going out but it only sounds more exciting than there working day. You can see this in his poem 'whitsun weddings.' He says ' coach party annexes, the wedding days" this shows that the days out that they have are still boring as there still seems to be no happiness that they are going out. But this is also not a very exciting description of them all going out.


Another reason why I believe that all of Larkins poems are bleak and miserable is because he has no real rhythm in his poems. The only rhythm that he has is his rhyming couplets. For example " across and moss." Even these rhyming couplets don't give the poem any rhythm. With his poems having no rhythm it makes it seem like a story and is very boring. The times literary supplement said something about Larkins collection. They said " a sense of order and a sense of waste." This shows that the proletariats have order in there life and that there life's are boring and repetitive.


Larkin shows that the proletariats have a sense of order in there life's. This is shown in ' The Large Cool Store.' Larkin says " set out in simple sizes plainly." This shows that there life is ordered as they have to go to work and then they come back from work with a bit of money and then they can go out in the evening and the weekends and there life is planned. 


From analysing and reading Larkins poems I can see that all of his poems are set out all the same as they are just shows to be repetitive and boring life's. But Larkin also shows the working class to be miserable and deluding themselves as Larkin show  boring there life is as it is already ordered for them and they have no other choice that working. A Marxist critic may think that the poems are showing a really bad patriarchy society and they will aim to get rid of capitalists. Overall I think that Larkin does represent the proletariats to be boring as all they do is go to work and go out. But I also believe that none of the proletariats bother to go beyond there limits as thy just get on with there life's and do not resist doing something else they just do what they are told and work for the bourgeoisie.

Them and[uz]- Tony Harrison

The poem 'Them and [uz]'by Tony Harrison proposes some form of utopian vision as this seems to be a solution to the problems that are encountered in the work place, this is because the upper class steal work from the middle class and the lower class. The upper class then say that the middle and lower classes work is now there's. The upper class have a belief that everyone should speak politely, elegantly and properly. This shows the superstructure due to the class system. Therefore if the lower and middle class do not speak like this the upper class will look down on them. This then infers how alienation is used in the classes and they can not overcome it as they are looked down on. The upper class also believe that nobody should have an accent, this is because they believe it is not speaking properly or elegantly. An example of this from the poem is 'Litterchewer.' This shows that the boy in this poem can not say literature, this is because of his accent. This comes across very patronising as the teacher has to repeat the word and he makes a joke about it. He also suggests that if everyone spoke with proper English language then it would reflect on the utopian vision.




The work that is served as propaganda is by using manipulatation. An example of this is ' poetrys, the speech of kings.' This persuades people to speak properly as it is a bourgeoisie that is speaking correct English language. But the also as hierarchy is the patriarchal society. This may also give them hope as they may feel as if they do speak properly then they may then become highly educated. Becoming highly educated would then mean that they would get a better chance in life and would be able to get a good job. This also links to the superstructure as they need to be educated so that they can get a good job.


This piece of literature reflects the class of his own, this is because he is in the middle class. An example where this happens is 'spoke the language I spoke at home.' This is reflecting his own class as this is how he spoke when he was ta home and he has not changed the way that he speaks.  Even when he is at school he does not change the way he speaks, he still doesn't change they way he speaks when some others influence him to. This poem allows us to understand why it reflects his class other than everyone else's. But we also know that the higher class take the lower and middle classes work away from them, they then also make the work in the way that they speak as they are seen to speak perfectly. A famous example of this is that a famous writer had a stutter, this then showed everyone that literature was not made to be spoken perfectly as he still made literature even though he had a stutter.


The boy in this poem overcomes oppression. He does this from his teacher. An example that backs this up is ' used my name and own words.' This shows that he has overcome the cruel behaviour towards him. Despite the negativity that was put on him he still managed to escape the trap that he was in and still became successful.  This had a good impact on overcoming oppression as it shows that he managed to get work and then proved to the higher class what literature should really be like. Tony Harrison also overcame oppression as he is a famous writer but he is still not in higher class and he is trapped in middle class.