Education For Leisure

Today I am going to kill something. Anything.
I have had enough of being ignored and today
I am going to play God. It is an ordinary day,
a sort of grey with boredom stirring in the streets.

I squash a fly against the window with my thumb.
We did that in school. Shakespeare. It was in
another language and now the fly is in another language.
I breathe out talent on the glass to write my name.

I am a genius. I could be anything at all, with half
the chance. But today I am going to change the world.
Something’s world. The cat avoids me. The cat
knows I am a genius and has hidden itself.

I pour the goldfish down the bog. I pull the chain.
I see that it is good. The budgie is panicking.
Once a fortnight. I walk the two miles into town
for a signing on. They don’t appreciate my autograph.

There is nothing left to kill. I dial the radio
and tell the man he’s talking to a superstar.
He cuts me off. I get our bread-knife and go out.
The pavements glitter suddenly. I touch your arm.

General Analysis

• 5 quartets
• This poem comes from Carol Ann Duffy’s collection Standing Female Nude. This poem fits into this collection as the poem gives a voice to the unemployed population of Britain.
• This poem is from the perspective of an unemployed person (possibly a young person) who is shown to have great intellect not not the intellect needed for real life.
• Single voice
• Shows the mental deterioration of the persona as he/she goes from squashing flies to preparing to take his/her first human life.
• The speaker behaves in this way due to neglect from society and possibly was neglected by his/her parents as a child as he/she says “I have had enough of being ignored”
• Simple language with short, impactful sentences
• Form: narrative

Title

“Education for Leisure” shows that the school’s education seems to be only to keep the children occupied during class and not to actually prepare them for their future life. Therefore, Carol Ann Duffy views the education in schools as “Leisure”
It also shows the irony of education during Margaret Thatcher’s time as the PM of the UK.
The lack of education needed for a proper career resulted in people becoming idle and anti-social due to unemployment

Line by Line Analysis

Today I am going to kill something. Anything.

• Bluntness shows the frustration of the speaker
• Shows that the since the speaker does not have a job, he/she is willing to resort to crime to be able to keep himself/herself occupied
• “Anything.” shows that the speaker doesn’t care for what might be the consequences due to the actions which he/she might take. Also indicates psychological disturbance.
• The lack of specificity shows that the intent of action was not out of motive.

I have had enough of being ignored

• Reveals a bit of childhood as the speaker indicates that he/she has been neglected since he/she was a child.
• This line also shows that the speaker has been rejected by society as he/she is unemployed

I am going to play God.

• The speaker is aware that he/she cannot attain the level of God and therefore says that he/she will “play God”. The speaker could also say “play” to show that he/she realizes that God is good but he/she is going to be evil, but with the same power that God has.

It is an ordinary day

• The speaker’s actions are going to make this “ordinary day” into something extraordinary.

a sort of grey with boredom stirring in the streets

• Grey shows bleakness. Grey also represents negative emotions and therefore can be seen as a foreshadowing of the darkness that is settling on the life of the speaker.
• “Boredom stirring” shows that boredom is what seems to be taking over everything as there is nothing interesting in the eyes of the speaker.

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I squash a fly against the window with my thumb.

• the persona starts with minimal violence by crushing a fly.

Shakespeare.

• Fly on the wall refers to King Lear. This play is one of the hardest plays by William Shakespeare to analyse due to the complex language.
• This shows that the speaker is able to comprehend such kind of complex language. However, this was not sufficient to get him/her a job.

It was in
another language

• The language used in Shakespearean plays is not relevant in today’s world

And now the fly is in another language

• Practical life is in another language. This shows the irrelevance of education in today’s world.
• Shows school teachings vs. job demands

I breathe out talent on the glass to write my name

• The word “breathe” shows the temporary nature of so - called “talent” in school. Talent disappears in school since it is impractical

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I am a genius.

• The persona starts to become anti-social as he/she considers himself/herself above society.

I can be anything at all, with half
the chance.

• “half the chance” shows desperation to gain attention from society

But today I am going to change the world

• Yet again shows the desperation of the persona to gain at least some recognition from the world, be it good or bad.

Something’s world. The cat avoids me

• Persona wants to change the world not only for humans but also for everything on earth.
• The cat mentioned senses that the persona has changed and fears the presence of the persona

The cat
knows I am a genius and has hidden itself

• The persona feels that even animals which can’t reason know that he/she is a genius. He/she feels that he/she has already attained the level of God to the point that he/she feels that the cat feels unworthy

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I pour the goldfish down the bog. I pull the chain.

• Shows the increasing violence of the persona as he/she starts to kill animals.

I see that it is good.

• Biblical allusion: In the first book of the Bible, Genesis, God creates the earth, sea, skies and everything else and ‘He saw that is was good’. This reinforces the fact that the persona is trying to “play God”. While God says “it is good” for something beneficial, the persona says “it is good” for harm.

Once a fortnight, I walk the two miles into town
for a signing on.

• the person is unemployed so he/she walks two miles to the nearest town to collect his/her unemployment benefit.
• “Signing on” refers to the signing of the documents needed to collect the money.
• the persona makes it sound like he/she is a recognized figure that goes to town to give his/her autograph

They don’t appreciate my autograph

• the people who assign the benefit don’t appreciate the fact that a young person is unemployed

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There is nothing left to kill.

• The persona feels bored of killing small things and wants to move on.

I dial the radio
and tell the man he’s talking to a superstar.

• This reinforces the fact that the persona feels the need to be recognized by at least one person and therefore lies to the radio so that people will get to know him/her
• This is the final attempt to include himself/herself in society

He cuts me off.

• Even his final attempt is rejected

I get our bread knife and go out.

• “our bread knife” shows that someone else earns the bread for the family since he/she is unemployed. This shows that the persona still depends on his/her family.

The pavements glitter suddenly

• This is a contrast to the former “a sort of grey with boredom” as the pavements seem to shine with purpose.

I touch your arm.

• Can be taken in two ways:
• 1. The persona prepares to take his/her first human life
• 2. The persona decides to ask you for help

Heading