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Hawk Roosting Analysis

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Humans have displayed different personalities throughout time. Some people have controlling personalities that can appear condescending. Other people have childlike personalities that can appear flighty to others. Dominance causes people to focus on their personal goals; however, companionship causes people to focus on the wellbeing of those around them. In Ted Hughes’s Hawk Roosting, the hawk represents a goal oriented person who values dominance and control. In Mark Doty’s Golden Retrievals, the golden retriever represents a carefree person who values focusing on the present. Both poets use the animals’ points of view to express their differing views on the human experience. In Hawk Roosting the hawk represents a dominating, goal-oriented …show more content…

The dog lives in the moment and does not focus on one thing for too long. Mark Doty uses multiple end stops to emphasize the energetic nature of a dog represented by the first sentence of the poem “Fetch?”. Doty views life as something that should be enjoyed and he believes that humans often focus too much on the past and future. The golden retriever focuses on what is happening at that point in time and the happiness that he gains from it. This is represented by the statement “a squirrel who’s-oh joy-actually scared”. The golden retriever does not simply focus on the fact that there is a squirrel but that the squirrel is actually scared of him. In Hawk Roosting the hawk is compared to God; however in Golden Retrievals the golden retriever is compared to a Zen master, an allusion to Buddhism, representing the main differences between the two points of views. God represents an all knowing figure who is above everything else while a Zen master is focused on calm and living in the present. Doty states, “retrieving, my haze-headed friend, you”. The golden retriever takes a condescending tone toward its owner because he realizes that his owner is missing out on

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