Follower (AQA GCSE English Literature)

Theme

Evidence

Poet’s intention

Changing identities in family relationships

The childhood memory is presented in the first-person voice of an adult son to show his perspective as he looks back on the past

Heaney shows the son reflecting on the shift in the male power dynamic: he compares himself as a dependant child to his father now he is older

The poem is cyclical in nature, repeating ideas about dependence

As a child he “stumbled in his hob-nob wake” but now his father “keeps stumbling”

The poet shows the cycle of family life: the son as a dependant child now grown and taking his father’s place

Heaney uses a caesura to show the changing nature of their relationship: “Yapping always. But today”

The tone changes here as the speaker identifies that while he was reliant on his father then, it is his father who depends on him now

Seamus Heaney’s poem takes the form of a reflection on his childhood to convey how strength and independence is passed down from father to son

Theme

Evidence

Poet’s intention

Acceptance and independence   

Heaney’s poem is made up of four quatrains with lines of similar length in a disciplined an controlled structure 

As the speaker remembers a childhood memory working on the farm, his tone is composed as well as nostalgic to present the stable nature of his relationship with his father 

Heaney’s poem uses half-rhymes to represent the speaker and perfect rhyming lines to represent his father

• His rhyme “I wanted to grow up and plough,” with “All I ever did was follow” conveys his desire to be as good as his father  

• The rhyme of “To close one eye, stiffen my arm” and “In his broad shadow round the farm” shows the father as steadfast and disciplined 

The speaker’s tone presents a slight tension which implies his need to be like his father and to follow in his footsteps, whereas the perfect rhyming lines as he describes his father, imply an unshakeable voice

Seamus Heaney depicts a speaker taking comfort from his memory of his stable childhood, however, he suggests his attempt to mimic his father is not without challenge

Theme

Evidence

Poet’s intention

Nostalgia

The semantic field of work shows the hard labour his father was capable of

• The verbs “worked”, “strained”, “narrowed” and “angled” present the work his father did as steady and careful

• The sensory imagery in “sweating team” and “clicking tongue” present the father as in control

The poet highlights the powerful impact of the event with vivid imagery presenting his father as a capable expert 

The simile presents his father as strong: “His shoulders globed like a full sail strung”

Heaney’s speaker compares his father’s physical strength to a sail, connoting natural power

Seamus Heaney conveys the close bond a son has with his father through a vivid depiction of a childhood memory in which he describes his father as strong and capable

Topic sentence

Both poems describe their parents with admiration and love

Evidence and analysis

'Follower'

'Eden Rock'

Heaney’s speaker describes his positive reflections of a day with his father when he was young, using enjambment and regular quatrains to create a sentimental tone

Similarly, Charles Causely’s first-person speaker describes a vivid memory of a picnic with his parents

• Enjambment creates a calm and nostalgic tone which presents the memory as comforting

• The regular structure shows the stabling influence of his parents

Heaney’s speaker describes his father with imagery presenting him as in control and respected

• His shoulders “globed like a full sail strung” with a horse straining at his “clicking tongue”

The speaker here also describes his parents as he remembers them as a child

• He describes his mother in a “sprigged dress” and spreading a “stiff white cloth”, which implies her purity

• He describes his father in “Genuine Irish Tweed” with a small “trembling” dog at his feet

Heaney’s speaker describes his father offering him advice and stability

• He “follows in his broad shadow” as his father is “an expert”

The speaker’s perspective of his parents as reassuring and guiding is shown in their communication to him despite their distance: “'See where the stream-path is!/Crossing is not as hard as you might think.'”

Causely and Heaney both pay tribute to their parents’ role in their development and present their parents as stabilising and guiding factors in their lives

Topic sentence

Both poets illustrate simple childhood memories which are powerfully vivid 

Evidence and analysis

'Follower'

'Eden Rock'

Heaney’s speaker presents the memory in evocative sensory description: 

The “sweating team” work with “The bright steel-pointed sock” and the “polished sod” 

Causely uses sensory language to present the immersion and vivid recollection of the speaker

• The mother is described as bright in the sun:“Her hair, the colour of wheat, takes on the light” as she sets out “blue tin cups”

• The sibilance of the father as he  “spins a stone” evokes strong imagery

Heaney’s speaker remembers a simple and typical day with his father

• The auxiliary verb ‘would’ in “He would set the wing” implies this was an habitual activity

• He explains this was a regular day: “Sometimes he rode me on his back”

The ordinariness of the picnic is represented with natural imagery

• “She pours tea from a Thermos” , sets out the “same three plates” and uses a sauce bottle for the milk, which suggests this is a familiar family outing

The speaker alludes to the power of the memory of his father as described by the actions of his father

• He imagines how he would “close one eye, stiffen my arm” like his father and how he “stumbled in his wake”

The speaker’s imagination is powerful as he hears his parents calling to him and his memory brings surreal images to his mind

• The “sky whitens” with “three suns” represents the speaker’s  dream-like state

• The reference to the three suns could allude to an unbreakable family unit 

Both Heaney and Causely present the influence of seemingly insignificant moments in their childhoods which have a lasting impact on the sons

Topic sentence

While Seamus Heaney’s poem ends with a speaker who wishes for independence,

Charles Causely’s poem ends with a speaker unable to accept the distance between them [the speaker and their parents] 

Evidence and analysis

'Follower'

'Eden Rock'

In 'Follower', the speaker returns from reflections of their father with a sense of frustration that the father “will not go away”

• As an adult he is able to acknowledge he was a “nuisance” when he was young

• A caesura shifts the tone: “yapping always. But today”

• The speaker describes the changing role: “It is my father who keeps stumbling/Behind me” 

Here, the speaker’s unresolved longing for their parents suggests they are caught up in the past

• The poem ends with a single line, separated from the rest of the poem to show the speaker’s return to reality

• He conveys his surprise at the emotions the separation from his parents still brings: “I had not thought that it would be like this.”

The speaker remembers his father as a younger man, yet is able to see him differently now he is older as he is still with him

The speaker remembers a specific memory of his parents as young adults, which suggests he sees them like that still, as they were then

Both poets present positive childhood memories. However, while Heaney shows a speaker who is more aware of the changing nature of his father, Causely depicts a more idealised version of the speaker’s parents

Topic sentence

Both poems present speakers who express their admiration for, and feel reassurance from, supportive parents  

Evidence and analysis

'Follower'

'Mother Any Distance'

Heaney’s poem focuses on a significant, yet typical memory of a son and his father working on a farm 

• The imagery is personal: “Sometimes he rode me on his back”

• The semantic field of rural farm-life (“plough”, “furrow”, “sod”) shows his vivid recollections of his simple childhood

Similarly, Armitage’s poem explores the emotional impact of a normal event - a parent helping their child move and measuring the rooms 

• He uses a semantic field of furniture, such as “pelmets”, “windows”, “floors” and “spool of tape”

• Armitage uses imagery to present the emotional impact  the moment: “the prairies of the floors”

Seamus Heaney’s speaker shows his father as careful and exacting 

• He is an “expert”: “His eye/Narrowed and angled at the ground” 

• He presents his father as a role-model: “I wanted to grow up and plough,/To close one eye, stiffen my arm.”

Armitage, too, describes his mother’s calm and guiding actions

• She helps him: “You at the zero-end, me with the spool of tape, recording/length”

• Armitage shows his mother’s experience: “requires a second pair of hands./You come to help me measure windows, pelmets, doors”

The speakers both explore the family relationship by showing the impact of ordinary events during which parents provide their children with support and guidance

Topic sentence

Both poems present speakers who express painful and confusing feelings about the distance between parent and child

Evidence and analysis

'Follower'

'Mother Any Distance'

Heaney’s speaker is uneasy about the changing relationship

• His poem depicts the strength of his father as a young man and how this changes as he ages 

• He uses a verb which implies struggling movements: the son “stumbles in his wake” as a child, but now the father “keeps stumbling”

Armitage’s speaker, too, seems confused about whether to be with his parents or become independent

• He uses metaphor to contrast the support and freedom each brings: “unreeling/years between us. Anchor. Kite.”

• The metaphorical “to fall or fly” implies the speaker’s dilemma

Heaney’s speaker presents a nostalgic tone regarding his father with lines of enjambment at the start,  however by the end the speaker’s tone changes with caesura to represent the changes in the relationship: “always yapping.But today”

Similarly, Armitage’s speaker mixes reflective enjambment with poignant pauses created by caesurae to reflect his mixed emotions: “the last one-hundredth of an inch...I reach”

Both poems explore the strong pull of parental love and the confusing emotions of growing independence 

Topic sentence

While both poems show a close bond, Seamus Heaney’s poem focuses on a son’s need to follow in his father’s footsteps and Simon Armitage’s poem focuses around a son breaking away from his mother 

Evidence and analysis

'Follower'

'Mother Any Distance' 

Heaney’s poem presents the speaker’s father as close by at the end

• The present-tense continuous verb in “It is my father who keeps stumbling” shows the continuing dependence in the relationship 

Armitage, however, has a speaker who describes the relationship as possessive using present-tense verbs, “your fingertips still pinch”

The poem illustrates traditional family values:

• The dependence of the father on his son is a frustrating yet necessary role: “Behind me, and will not go away”

However, Armitage shows a child realising the necessity of leaving:

• His present dependance on his parent is described as a “breaking point” “where something has to give” The speaker uses metaphor to show his desire for independence and freedom: “I reach/towards a hatch that opens on an endless sky”

Both poems discuss family love. However Heaney’s speaker offers strength and comfort to his father as he ages, while Armitage’s speaker chooses freedom 

Topic sentence

Both poems are tributes to parents by speakers who reflect on their parents in younger years

Evidence and analysis

'Follower'

'Before You Were Mine'

Heaney’s poem describes the father with a simile presenting him as a strong and vibrant younger man: “His shoulders globed like a full sail strung”

• The sensory imagery presents his father as powerful: “The horses strained at his clicking tongue.”

Similarly, the first-person speaker in 'Before You Were Mine' describes her mother in rich imagery: “Your polka-dot dress blows round your legs” and “you shriek at the pavement”

The speakers evoke positive imagery to show their parents as vibrant younger adults

Heaney’s speaker shows his parents as guiding him in his life: 

“All I ever did was follow/In his broad shadow round the farm.”

Similarly, Duffy’s speaker reflects on her mother as a mentor and presents her poem as a eulogy: “You'd teach me the steps on the way home”

The poems both comment on the powerful, positive influence of parents in family relationships, while the speakers equally recognise them as younger, more powerful individuals 

Topic sentence

Both poets present speakers who comment on dependence within family relationships

Evidence and analysis

'Follower'

'Before You Were Mine'

Heaney’s poem presents a speaker who is aware he was reliant on his father as a child 

• He uses present-tense verbs to highlight how he was a “nuisance”: “yapping”, “tripping”, “falling” 

Duffy’s speaker, too,is aware of her impact in the mother’s life: 

 “The decade ahead of my loud, possessive yell”

The speaker presents the close link in family relationships with  with the possessive pronoun “my”

Duffy’s speaker also relates this idea with repetition of the line: “'Before You Were Mine'.”

The poets both explore family love which comments on the dependance of a child on their parent

Topic sentence

Seamus Heaney’s poem depicts a speaker who consider their father’s role in their life, while Carol Ann Duffy’s poem presents a speaker aware of her mother as an individual, not just in her role as parent

Evidence and analysis

'Follower'

'Before You Were Mine'

Heaney’s speaker describes his father in his role as father: “Sometimes he rode me on his back”

However, Duffy’s speaker reflects on her mother as she was before she had a child: “where you sparkle and waltz and laugh 'Before You Were Mine'.”

Heaney’s speaker discusses his father in a detached third-person

Duffy, however, presents an intimate monologue which directly addresses the mother: “You reckon it’s worth it.”

Both speakers reflect on their parents, however Heaney’s poem is a childhood memory of his own, whereas Duffy’s poem is an imagined event from her mother’s past