Critical Appreciation of the Poem Television
Introduction :
The poem entitled Television is one of Roald Dahl’s best-known poems. It is about the negative effects that television can have on young minds. It also offers the advice that the children should read books instead of watching television. In the poem, the poet tells us that the television is a hypnotizer which dulls the imagination of children by all the filth it telecasts. According to Dahl, children who watch the television just constantly stare at the screen bedazzled by the shows which completely control their minds, so much so that they find it impossible to do or think of anything else.
In the poem the poet brings a fact to us that the television and its morbid shows are turning our young generation into zombies where thinking is concerned. Values, morals and ethics are thrown into the dustbin and bizarre information provided by the media is being constantly chewed and digested by children these days. However, the poet supplements a substitute in the place of the gross television and that thing is reading. He states in his poem in a very unique fashion that before the television had come to pass, children used to spend their time reading quality books which he states in an indirect manner.
Thought-Content :
The poem begins in an abrupt and dramatic way. Addressing the parents, the poet tries to convince them about the negative impact of watching the television on the minds of their children. He goes on to the extent of saying that the ‘idiotic thing1 (TV set) should not be installed at home at all. He warns the parents against the excessive watching of TV by their children.
Giving a general observation, he says that he has found the children sit or stand before the television set lazily and stare at the screen continuously. In a humorous manner he says that the children go on staring at the TV screen for hours and this is why sometimes their eyeballs come out and he gives an instance in a hyperbolic manner that a week ago, he saw a dozen eyeballs of children lying on the floor because of watching the television excessively.
The poet also describes some advantages of the parents in letting the children watch the television. The parents think that when the children watch the television, they remain quiet and do not make mischiefs. In this way, they can be able to accomplish their domestic chores. But the disadvantages of watching the television too much cannot be ignored. The television kills their imagination and creative faculty. It makes them dull and restricts them from experiencing world’s fantasies.
Then, the poet introduces the parents’ point of view. The parents might ask him what type of entertainment they would give to their children to keep them occupied if they take the television set away. The poet asks the parents to recall how as the children they used to read the books when the television was not invented. The poet gives a short list of books children used to read before. Several books of adventure and fantasy used to be read in the past by the children. Fine fantastic tales of dragons, gypsies, queens, whales and smugglers greatly influenced the children.
Ultimately, the poet appeals to the parents to remove the television set and install in its place a bookshelf on the wall. The children may become aggressive at this sudden change in their routine life, but the parents should ignore their bitter attitude. Gradually, but assuredly, the children would adopt this habit of reading the books and once they develop the fondness for the books, they would take to reading voraciously.
Moral of the Poem :
Dahl wishes to warn the readers about how television can have the effect of dulling children’s minds. Watching television can make the children unimaginative and prevent them from enjoying the fairy tales they are supposed to like. On the other hand, reading is a good habit for children. It sharpens their minds and introduces them to whole new worlds they never knew existed. Therefore, Dahl requests parents to bring back the books they had read before the invention of television into their homes.
Setting of the Poem :
Roald Dahl seems to have entered into every contemporary British household as he was writing this poem. Living as he did in the 20th century, he saw the introduction of many new and innovative electronics products. The television was one of those products and perhaps the most controversial one among them. Even now, the effects of watching television for long hours are discussed in certain circles with some amount of disapproval. Dahl is quite vocally one of that company. He also takes the opportunity to create a parallel landspace in which books abound and are found everywhere within the house. He is sure that such a landscape will encourage children to read.
Form and Structure :
The poem is a long one. It consists of a total of ninety four lines, but it is very simple in language and form. The lines of the poem are not separated into stanzas. They are divided into meaningful segments for ease of comprehension. The poem follows a rhythmic pattern and has a rhyme scheme. It follows rhymed iambic tetrameter lines throughout the poem with no stanza division.
The poet has capitalised the important portions especially where he talks about the undesired consequences of watching television. The poet has very carefully divided a sentence into different lines so that each line rhymes with the next line. The poet uses rhyming couplets, with the exception in lines thirty one, thirty two and thirty three, throughout the peom. The rhyme scheme is aabbcc and so on as we find in the following lines :
‘The most important thing we’ve learned, (a)
So far as children are concerned, (a)
Is never, NEVER, NEVER let (b)
Them near you Television set (b)
Or better still, just don’t install (c)
The idiotic thing at all (c)
Tone of the Poem :
The tone of this poem is contrary to what has led to poet to pen his thoughts here. Dahl is a man who lived through a period of great many inventions, including that of television. However, he is not excited by this so-called progress and development of the human race. He hankers for the olden days when life was simple and little pleasures were more easily experienced. He associates television with the loss of innocence in children. He is saddened to see that children do not any longer read books as ardently as they used when he was younger. He longs to change this and Television comes out of his meager attempt to do so.
The Use of Repetition :
Repetition is the purposeful re-use of words and phrases for an effect. Sometimes, especially with longer phrases that contain a different key word each time, this is called parallelism. The repetition is found several times in throughout the lines of the poem.
First, there is a repetition in one line :
“Is never, NEVER, NEVER let”. (Line 3)
This repetition gives a very strong emphasis in a line, to the idea of prohibiting the parents from installing the television set which are said after this line.
Then there is repetition in ordered lines :
Until they’re hypnotised by it. (Line 14)
Until they’re absolutely drunk. (Line 15)
The repetition here shows the parallelism about two ideas that emphasised by the voice. Again, it adds the strength to the tone of the voice in the poem. The foregrounded idea is the negative effect of watching the television too much that might happen upon the children.
There is also repetition that emphasises the children to be the victim of television. The children become passive and the passiveness is described into different key terms which follow the same subject which are children.
They don’t climb out the window sill, (Line 18)
They never fight or kick or punch, (Line 19)
They leave you free to cook the lunch. (Line 20)
They USED …. TO READ ! They’d READ and READ (Line 44)
AND READ AND READ, and then proceed (Line 45)
To READ some more, Great Scott ! Gadzooks ! (Line 46)
This foregrounding contributes the voice’ negative attitude towards television. However, he puts the focus more on its negative impacts to the children who enjoys it too much. But, in the lines forty four, forty five and forty six the repetition of verb read are made to the emphasis the importance of reading activity. So, the readers will also have more awareness to the children’s growth and give books to alternate the television set.
The Use of Allusions :
In literary terms, the main function of allusion in poetry is that it uses a powerful word, phrase or cultural reference that readers should understand in order to simply portray a complex concept. Allusion specifically references people, places and things in history, literature and society for this purpose. Very lively allusions have been used in the poem Television :
- Such wondrous, fine, fantastic tales.’ (Line 52)
- ‘Of dragons, gypsies, queens and whales.’ (Line 53)
- ‘And treasure isles, and distant shores.’ (Line 54)
- ‘And cannibals crouching round the pot.’ (Line 58)
Rhetorical Question :
Rhetorical Question is a question solely for effect which does not require an answer. By the implication the answer is obvious; it is a means of achieving an
emphasis stronger than a direct statement. In the poem there are lines that make use of rhetorical question to strengthen the message :
- ‘But did you ever stop to think.’ (Line 22)
- ‘To wonder just exactly what.’ (Line 23)
- ‘This does to your beloved tot V (Line 24)
- ‘What shall we do to entertain.’ (Line 36)
- ‘What used the darling ones to do ?’ (Line 39)
The Punctuation and Font :
1. Hyphen : A hyphen is generally used to break single words into parts which may be too long and difficult to read, or to join separate words to form a single word. But in this poem hyphen is used mostly to join clauses into one single sentence although it is written in separated lines. It is purposely used so that the meaning remains continued.
- HE CAN NOT THINK-HE ONLY SEES ! (Line 33)
- And once they start-oh boy, oh boy, oh boy ! (Line 86)
- And Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle and (Line 66)
- And children hitting you with sticks (Line 80)
The pause made by the hyphen gives a sense of hanging. It means to invite the readers to read and think at a certain pace.
2. Font: Any type of font does not change the meaning of the words. But the font changing in the middle of a written will change the focus and emphasis. Here the poet uses the capitalised word for all words in the lines 25-33 in a row.
- IT ROTS THE SENSE IN THE HEAD ! (Line 25)
- IT KILLS IMAGINATION DEAD ! (Line 26)
- IT CLOGS AND CLUTTERS UP THE MIND ! (Line 27)
- IT MAKES A CHILD SO DULL AND BLIND. (Line 28)
- HE CAN NO LONGER UNDERSTAND. (Line 29)
The Use of Figures of Speech :
The poet has used the figure of speech hyperbole. Hyperbole is an outrageous exaggeration used for effect. It adds a dramatic effect to the situation that is used to evoke strong emotions. If we look at the expressions rots, kills, dead, clogs, clutters, dull and blind, as soft cheese, rust and freeze, they are full of negative connotation and exaggeration.
Then, there is apostrophe. The poet uses it when he addresses his poem to English parents and advises them on doing away with their television sets.
Next, there is figure of personification. The poet uses it in two cases-first, when he gives television the human ability to kill something and second, when he gives ‘Imagination’ the human ability to die at its hands.
Traditional metephors have been used in the following lines :
- ‘Last week in someone’s place we saw A dozen eyeballs on the floor.
- ‘How used they keep themselves contented Before this monster was invented.
We find an instance of simile at one occasion in the poem :
‘HIS BRAIN BECOMES AS SOFT AS CHEESE !’
The poet has used metonymy. Metonymy involves a comparison between two conditions or elements that have a pre-established connection in the empirical world. The general effect of metonymy is to bring before the mind a definite image, and thus to impact a graphic quality to the style. The metonymies in this poem are :
- ‘The younger ones had Beatrix Potter.’
- ‘With me. Tod, the dirty rotter.’
- ‘Just How The Camel Got His Hump.’
- ‘There’s Mr. Rat and Mr. Mole-
- ‘Oh, hooks what books they used to know’.
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