Seamus Heaney’s “Casualty” is usually written because an elegy for a friend who was slain in a bombing in North Ireland soon after Bloody Sunday. His friend, who was a Catholic, did not obey a curfew set in place by the Irish Republican Military. He was therefore killed in the bombing from the pub this individual often visited. “Casualty” is an elegy for this good friend in that Heaney uses that to remember and honor the deceased. The poem as well allows Heaney to express his opinion within the relative remorse of his friend along with the I actually. R. A.
Central to “Casualty” is the query of the Fisherman’s responsibility in bringing about his own loss of life. Heaney requires the reader, “How culpable was he/ That last night when he broke/ Our tribe’s complicity? ” (78-80) He can envision his good friend replying, “Puzzle me/ The right answer to that a person. ” (83-84) The composition ends with an indicate of this question as Heaney suggests, “Question me once again. ” (112) This repeating of the query of the sense of guilt of the good friend suggests to the reader that poem was meant to convey a political concept in addition to its function as an keen that Heaney uses to pay aspects to his friend. We are meant to evaluate this composition to determine intended for ourselves whether or not the violation of the curfew, made by the Fisherman’s own people, was enough to warrant his fatality.
By choosing not to stick to the curfew agreed upon by the Catholics in Northern Ireland, the Fisherman is seen as going against his people, his “tribe. ” And so the question of his sense of guilt seems to rely upon deciding perhaps the rights of the individual ought to be valued higher than the collective good of his or her people. The Fisherman’s crime was turning his back in the people. Heaney reinforces this kind of theme with imagery talking about the Angler as he was all those night times in the club, “His fisherman’s quick eye/ And switched, observant back again. ” (19-20) Heaney is comparing the literal way in which the Fisherman sat in the bar, with his back considered the rest of the patrons, to the figurative way he turned his back in the people. The Fisherman moves against the arrangement of the Catholic community to satisfy his specific desires. Heaney seems to get issue with this kind of being a justification for his death and he requests reader to consider perhaps the crime of disobeying the will of one’s people is enough to warrant homicide.
Equally Heaney and the Fisherman were Catholic and were as a result expected to comply with the curfew imposed by Irish Republic Army. Nevertheless , Heaney portrays the Fisherman as having little decision about smashing the curfew because he was forced by his habit to seek the alcoholic beverages:
Intended for he consumed like a seafood
Nightly, naturally
Swimming on the lure
Of nice lit-up areas (70-74)
Below, Heaney makes it seem as though the Fisherman’s need to beverage made it therefore “he may not be held/ At home by simply his very own crowd/ Whatever threats were phoned. inches (60-63) Supported by his addiction, it seems like the Angler had small control over his choice to disobey curfew. Heaney identifies how they can imagine his friend in the moments prior to his fatality:
I see him as he turned
In that bombed offending place
Remorse fused with terror
In his continue to knowable encounter (64-67)
That his encounter, in Heaney’s imagination, confirmed remorse, implies that the Fisherman was aware about his transgression. His compulsion coupled with his repentance generally seems to lessen his guilt, generate him appear less “culpable” and less worth his destiny.
The concept Heaney is usually defending his friend, the Fisherman, can be supported through analysis showing how Heaney presents the man’s character throughout the poem. The poem commences with Heaney remembering just how his friend behaved on the pub. He describes him as a quiet man who kept to himself:
He would beverage by himself
And increase a weathered thumb
Towards the substantial shelf
Phoning another rum
And blackcurrant, without
Having to raise his words (1-6)
As they keeps to himself, we are able to infer the Fisherman has not been one to trigger trouble or perhaps bother these around him. Occasionally, the Fisherman would start a dialogue with Heaney and could attempt to go over poetry with him, “In the stop after a slug/ He stated poetry/ We might be on our own. ” (27-29) From this quote, we can build on our perception of this man as silent and as a loner. Heaney points out that when the Fisherman would commence a conversation, they might be alone, it would not be a open public conversation wherever others would be able to intrude. Heaney’s portrayal of his friend, coupled with the imagery of his “turned, observant backside, ” shows that this Angler, because he was obviously a loner, did not seek out the corporation of others often and this individual therefore seems to be an incomer of contemporary society.
The last lines from the poem, Heaney’s final touch upon the guilt of the Angler, leave someone with the impression that Heaney will not find the Fisherman causante in his decision to break curfew. Heaney explains a fishing trip he had taken with his good friend, “When he took me in the boat/ The screw purling, turning. ” (99-100) He describes the setting in the boat, on the water as the Fisherman’s natural habitat:
Because you find a tempo
Doing work you, sluggish mile by simply mile
Into your proper stay with
Somewhere, well away, beyond… (106-109)
This separated setting fits in with Heaney’s portrayal of his good friend as a loner. During this trip, Heaney is aware of and empathizes with the Fisherman’s love of such peaceful trips. Heaney starts to enjoy the seclusion as well and describes his empathy pertaining to the Angler to the visitor, “I sampled freedom with him. ” (102) Mainly because Heaney understands the time by itself on the boat to become “freedom” towards the Fisherman, it suggests that he does not get fault in the friend for living outside the boundaries of society. This individual accepts that to his friend, not necessarily a atrocious thing to wish to be away from society. The Fisherman detects solace in the freedom that his period away from people gives him. The last stanzas of the poem seem to show that Heaney’s opinion is that his good friend was justified when he set his individual rights, his freedom, above the rules of his persons.
In “Casualty” Heaney asks you to examine the culpability of his good friend, the Angler, for overlooking the rules set in place by his people, the Catholics of Northern Ireland in europe. Although he ultimately leaves it towards the reader to choose the extent of the Fisherman’s guilt, Heaney makes his opinion on the matter very clear throughout the poem. The central theme of person’s rights compared to good of a people is central for the poem. Heaney suggests that his friend’s obsession with alcohol motivated him to be able to curfew and suggests that he or she must have sensed remorse in this decision. This individual portrays his friend being a loner who kept to himself and was under no circumstances a problem to prospects around him or world as a whole. Heaney sympathizes with this mans need for remoteness, recognizing this social seclusion as independence to the Angler. Taking these things into account, it seems like Heaney can be suggesting that his good friend, who were living his existence as an outsider of society, was justified in disobeying its rules to search out and satisfy his individual needs.
