Macniece: The Theme Of Suffering

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Furthermore, MacNeice presents the theme of suffering through the unborn child’s desperate begging request for a normal life, for example: “I am not yet born; O hear me. Let not the bloodsucking bat or the rat or the stoat or the, club-footed ghoul come near me.” These lines effectively juxtapose the innocence of the unborn child with the horrors of the world that he is yet to be born into. MacNiece has done this to draw attention to the contrast between the persona and the horrors of the world that he is yet to be born into and compare them which is done to gain sympathy from the reader. Another way in which MacNiece portrays the theme of suffering is through the use of alliteration and assonance: “strong drugs dope me, with wise lies lure