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Heir Conditioning: Meaning of The Poem

The poem is a dialogue between grandparents and a grandchild. The grandchild asks the grandparents about what life was like before modern inventions like air conditioning and faxes. The grandparents explain that in the past, they lived simpler lives and did not face problems like pollution, stress, and traffic jams. However, now due to greed and materialism, nature fears humans and money has become more important than God.

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87 views3 pages

Heir Conditioning: Meaning of The Poem

The poem is a dialogue between grandparents and a grandchild. The grandchild asks the grandparents about what life was like before modern inventions like air conditioning and faxes. The grandparents explain that in the past, they lived simpler lives and did not face problems like pollution, stress, and traffic jams. However, now due to greed and materialism, nature fears humans and money has become more important than God.

Uploaded by

farah
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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HEIR CONDITIONING

Grand dad did you breathe


before air cons were invented?
Was it hard staying
alive without modern inventions?
Grandma werent you flustered
as you fluttered with paper fans?
Could you communicate before
faxes and long distance calls
became basic necessities?
Grandchild we lived
before your age
Because of our ignorance,
we did not know pollution, stress,
traffic jams, destruction of forests, streams and hills
We feared God and nature
now nature fears you and money is your new God.
by SHANmugalingam

MEANING OF THE POEM


STANZA 1

STANZA 2

SETTING
The poem is written in a twentieth century setting as there are references to modern gadgets such
as air cons and faxes. The problems mentioned in the poem also allude to current problems faced
by today generation. These include stress, pollution and traffic jams. The dialogue could have
taken place in the living room or any place that allow two parties to discuss certain issues.

PERSONA
There are two personas in the poem. They are the grandparents and the grandchild.

THEMES
The poem is concerned about the price one has to pay for progress. With the development, one
has to face many problems that can affect the quality of life. The younger generation has to face
greater challenges in life because they have many wants. The poet highlights the challenges in
the present world and attributes them to our own greed and materialistic ways.

MORAL VALUES
1. We must love our environment.
2. We must be God-fearing.
3. We must not be greedy and materialistic.
4. We must use our knowledge for our own good.
5. We must be grateful with what we have.
6. Progress and development bring about advantages and disadvantages.
7. Present days values are different from yesterday.
8. Greed can lead to destruction.
9. The younger generation has different values.
10. Preserve the environment.
11. We must pay a high price for development.

TONE AND MOOD


The tone is matter-of-fact and honest. The grandchild poses the questions honestly and directly
to the grandfather. The grandchild asks questions in an innocent and nave tone did
you,was itwerent youCould you The grandfather explains and answers in a firm and
serious tone , the voice of someone scolding, preaching and teaching an ignorant person. (we
did not ). However in the last two lines we could sense that the grandfather is unhappy with
the present generation as they have become more materialistic in life and their values have
changed.

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