Sticks By Thomas Sayers Ellis Literary Devices

Creative souls surpressed by cruel adversities look to art to release tension, and to gain comfort. “Sticks” by Thomas Sayers Ellis depicts an image of how an abusive father impacts the narrator’s revelation into the world of writing. The speaker’s battle against his “narrow-minded” father propels his journey towards expression, which serves as combat to his cruel, overbearing father. The poem sends a comforting message through imagery, symbols, and diction that writing brings consolation to those facing hardships.
A plethora of distinct imagery develops the story of how the malign actions of his father mold an impressionable son. Visual imagery used to describe the father such as “an enormous man”(1) with eyes of the “worst kind of jury”(5) forms an icon in which the reader rapidly dislikes within the first few lines. Identically, the visual imagery exercised in construing the father’s abusiveness, “when he slapped mother,” incites a hatred for the father and constructs sympathy for the narrator. Additionally, the subordinate narrator

Phrases such as “beat down”(10) and “bodies slammed”(10) emphasize the strength of the father. However, words used to describe the narrator’s writing like “Wham! Bam!”(24) communicate the opposition to the violent father where words are just as mighty. Relating back to the use of musical terms to enhance the theme, the phrase “wild solos,violent uncontrollable blows”(28) used to describe the narrator’s writings further supports the affiliation between the father’s clout and the narrator’s newly found strength. Finally, the phrase “the noisy banging and tuning of growth”(32) portrays the narrator refining his dad’s dreadfulness, and turning his negative impact into a growing art form. Moreover, the diction illustrates the father’s violence fueling the passion of the narrator’s combatant