Consumerism (bruce dawe)

The poem “Enter without so much as knocking” explores the negative issues of consumerism through the example of one mans life. The poem has a cycle structure, starting with “Blink, blink. HOSTPIAL” to symbolise his birth and ending on “Blink, blink CEMETERY” to symbolise his death. This structure helps to show how he was corrupted over time.

The idea that the young are too naïve and also ‘lucky’ that they have not been exposed to or corrupted by consumerism is presented in the first stanza of childhood. It is achieved through the use of colloquial language, “Hello, hello hello, all you lucky people” blares from the TV as the baby listens. The statement “lucky people” is ironic as Dawe uses satire to suggest that the child really was lucky because of his young age consumerism had not affected him.

The idea that consumerism rules our life is als

Throughout this poem, the struggle with life in China is continuing, though the only thing Uncle Billy is concerned about is making the television screen clearer by “using the contrast knob”. Even while he is adjusting the image on the television, “all those screaming faces / and bodies” are “going under the horses’ hooves”. This statement is hyphenated in attempt to make it conspicuous, however, having a clearer vision on the television is more important than the suffering peasants of China, to this family. People in China are “just” “starving away” and 600 million Chinese people have died, though we just view this as entertainment. From this, the reader is positioned to acknowledge the fact that it is disgusting and disappointing that people from the western society can simply perceive this as pure entertainment.

Bruce Dawe has effectively used different techniques in his poetry to address issues of consumerism.

Some topics in this essay:
Not-so-good Earth, Bruce Dawe, BREATHING ORDER”, Uncle Billy’s, Earth Dawe, Uncle Billy, People China, Pearl Buck, not-so-good earth, people western, happening people closer, people western world, view entertainment, title poem, “blink blink, issues consumerism, people closer relations, colloquial language, portrays people western, “enter knocking”, earth written, consumerism rules,