Ted Hughes uses animals in his poems

Question: Ted Hughes uses animals in his poems not for the sake of animals but for human being.

Answer:

Ted Hughes has deep inclination towards animal imagery. He has been obsessed with animals. He uses animals as a means to express his own philosophy about human being. Many of his poems are based on animals. In these poems he deals with violent instict in animals he actvally deals with wild instinet in human beings. His mains focus of attention is not an animal but on human being.

The violent and predatory shape in human nature has been described in his poem “pike” quite allegorically. The poem deals with root of primitive energy in human being with its violent irrational and deadly nature. The writer endeavours to point out the act that national consiousness in human being is subordinated and spoiled on special circumstances. Ted Hughes takes keen interest in human appears. His interest in human appears has been represnted in the poem “Pike”. This poem represents the poet’s preoccupation with animals. Man has primordial natural forces in him. This plundering tendency is exposed when he gets opportunity and favourable circumstances.

This world is violence-ridden. Terrorism or violence is a factor both and animals and human world. These are animality horror, terror, violence and irrational activities in the animal world. These destructive forces in the animal world exceed their normal bounderies and accommodate themselves in the human world also. These has been shown by the poet in the poem “Pike”.

Pike stands for violence, destrvction and cannivalism. In the first stanza of the poem the poet describes pike as killers. The pikes are ferocious even when the move smoothly under the lily pades in the ponda. They have their own grandevr, but their seoson killers at their early age. They are submarine delicacy and horror. Cruelty is inborn in pikes. The strongest of pikes eats up the weaker one. A four inche’s pike eats up a three inche’s pike. Again a four and half inche’s pike devoures four inch’s pike. In this way, the bigger pikes also destroy and kill each other.

To conclude “Pike” is not a poem only to give portrayed to the violent nature of the “pike”. Rathar it is a symbolic poem revealing animality and irrationality in human being. There are so many pikes in human form in our human community. These human pikes are violent and dangerous who destroy and devastate innocent human beings. Thus the poet has shown the fact that crvelties atrocities of animal world may open extend their limit up to human world. There is a beast in every man he/she should /must check the beast in him /her.