Essay on By the River by Steven Herrick - 653 Words

Steven Herrick’s work of â€Å"By the river† displays a bildungsroman novel in which harry goes on a journey through life, facing love and loss. Steven Herrick’s verse novel â€Å"By the River† is very successful in conveying the significant ideas about human nature. He uses key themes such as grief, environmental influence and coming of age to explore these ideas. To convey the themes Herrick uses multiple techniques such as imagery, repetition, personification and positive and negative influence throughout his text. Grief is a key theme throughout Herrick’s novel â€Å"By the River† highlighting the suffering and distress from losing a loved one. Herrick explores this theme through the death of Harry Hodby’s mother and his close friend Linda. The†¦show more content†¦Also the use of depressive connotations like squashed and dead in â€Å"A dead snake, cane toads squash flat, nothing that lives, and nothing that shines†. Herrick uses this theme to create a sense of the environmental effect on Harry Hodby’s identity, and to show the significant ideas about human nature. Coming of age is another major theme throughout Herrick’s novel â€Å"By the River†. In this novel we see Harry go on a journey through childhood to adolescence experiencing various changes and pleasures of life in a country town. In the quote â€Å"I see clearly now/which part of me/is my dads/the part inside/the good part/the part that knows/Johnny Barlow/Linda/the ring/the white cross† Herrick uses a list method and lists multiple things to show how much Harry has taken in over time and realized what has actually happened throughout his journey. This shows his change from child to adolescence. Herrick uses the repetition of the word â€Å"part† to emphasise to his readers that Harry has finally found the part of him, which belongs to his dad. Coming of age is a very important theme in this novel and expresses very significant ideas about human nature. Herrick was very successful in conveying the key elements of human nature by expressing them through the themes, grief, environmental influence and coming of age. The poetic techniques Herrick used to explore these themes are clearly shown throughout his verseShow MoreRelatedBelonging Essay4112 Words   |  17 PagesFour Acts Harrison, Jane, Rainbow’s End Luhrmann, Baz, Strictly Ballroom - film De Heer, Rolf, Ten Canoes - film Shakespeare, William, As You Like It Skrzynecki, Peter, Immigrant Chronicle Dickinson, Emily, Selected Poems of Emily Dicksinson Herrick, Steven, The Simple Gift Baillie, Alan, The China Coin Russell, Willy, Educating Rita Cleven,Vivienne et al (eds), Contemporary Indigenous Plays Pung, Alice, Unpolished Gem Noyce, Phillip, Rabbit-Proof Fence Daldry, Stephen, Billy Elliot Making MulticulturalRead MoreFreshwater Mussel and Water Quality: a Review of the Effects of Hydrologic and Instream Habitat Alterations9693 Words   |  39 Pagesdam could be regulat ed. Dams could make a shallow river deep, allowing watercraft to operate. Impounded rivers could act as reservoirs for holding water to support the populace. Pristine natural areas could be turned into a recreational goldmine through impoundment. Real, perceived, or pork barrel, there were many reasons to dam rivers. It must be stressed that an artificial impoundment is not analogous to a naturally occurring pool within a river. Impoundments typically become deeper toward their