[Therese Taillon]

In class we talked about the irony of the Catholic fisherman in the poem being killed by an IRA bomb. I also think it is important to note that it is ironic that both parties are also just trying to retaliate/ cope in their own manner. They are both committed to their causes, just as the Catholics and Protestants are committed to theirs. The IRA responded to the violence  of Bloody Sunday with more bombings and violence, whereas the fisherman retaliates by keeping to his normal routine. The fisherman’s nightly routine described in the first stanza is in direct defiance of the turmoil surrounding him. This juxtaposition of violence surrounding him undermines the futility of tribal revenge.

[Joseph Fennie]

I agree, especially with the line “How culpable was he / That last night when he broke / Our tribe’s complicity?” Truly the fault of the violence comes from the people who are so passionate that they will go to these means to stop those who break the silly curfew. It relates back to one of Yeats’s line from “The Second Coming”, Yeats writes, “The best lack all conviction, while the worst / Are full of passionate intensity.” The tribe is also truly at fault. They were complicit to not go out and keep giving in to the violence that was rampant in Northern Ireland. The title “Casualty” highlights this point even more giving the sense that he was a victim instead of someone who broke a rule.

[Author]

Posts