The Outsiders Poem Summary

1) The title of the poem is very unusual firstly because the length is longer than most poems, the title sounds like a letter being read instead of a poem and because the imagery given of a raped baby is one which normally upsets most of society while shocking people, which may cause some readers not to read the poem because the content may be found disturbing and may cause other rape victims to relive their ordeals if they read this. The title is effective as it gives the reader the feeling of compassion and poignancy, these feelings can also be found within in the poems contents. The moments pf poignancy are experienced in lines 19 and 20 when the speaker says, “ and when finally you stood exhausted at the end of her cot and asked, ‘ Where is

Another contrasting image is “and when you called for more blood, a bleary-eyed uncle got up to make a feed “, The feeding of a baby is important because the food gives the child all the nutrients needed for growth and development but the baby in the poem needed blood which would give her the nutrients needed to survive so she could be fed like the other babies are. “And when you administered an infant-sized opiate “, is contrasted with “ grandpa’s thin legs walked up and down for a colicky crier “ the contrast is that the raped baby needs opiate drugs to help sooth her pain while another baby is simply soothed by their grandfather walking up and down. The contrasting settings are affective because it shows the reader that for every bad situation there is a good situation happening to someone else at the same time. The different images gives the reader a break from the unsettling images of the raped baby to images of other babies who are