Saturday 19 April 2014

A letter from Ogmore

We get the impression from 'Goodbye 20th century' that time has passed for the persona and the century that he has lived his life in has gone by. The persona references significant historical events that have happened in the 20th century -  'Hiroshima and Auschwitz'. This could be suggesting that the persona is glad this century has gone by as Auschwitz has a strong connection with the persecution of the Jews and Abse is a Jew so it could be him hoping that it would not happen again in the 21st century. 

The repetition of 'Goodbye, 20th century' reinforces the idea of how important this century was to the personas. The lines 'even my nostalgia is becoming history' suggests that the persona's longing for the past is now in the past, and the things he once thought were nostalgic are now considered old.  

'Goodbye, I-must-leave-you-Dolly, goodbye Lily Marlene' suggests that he is leaving people behind in the 20th century, perhaps people he once knew who are now dead. 

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