Bruce Dawe What is Bruce Dawe saying in ‘Breakthrough’ and ‘Televistas’ about the impact of the media on modern society? In your discussion show how the poem uses persuasive and poetic techniques to convey the viewpoint. There are many different ways for poets to get a message across to an audience about the impact of the media on modern society. The two poems that are closely being looked at are ‘Breakthrough’ and ‘Televistas’, both poems are by Bruce Dawe. Dawe brings out the same concept in both poems, being his dislike for the media; like television and advertising.He also manages to bring out the worst in television by using a range of different poetic techniques like rhyme, irony, metaphors and sarcasm.
He employ’s his message through different techniques, language and symbolism. ‘Breakthrough’ is based around a little girl, who was said to be singing an advertising commercial while dying in hospital. This gives a sad message to the poem, as it illustrates that the little girl must have been consumed and controlled so much by television, that it cause her to have died in hospital singing about toilet tissue.Dawe’s poem ‘Televistas’ is similar in some ways as it portrays the same general message to express how much media controls people’s lives.
‘Televistas’ also gives a sad effect, as it compares people’s lives to T. V. shows, as two people fall in and out of love in front of the television, then in the end, get married in front of it. By doing this, it does not give either poem a positive effect as Dawe describes television as something that controls human society. In both poems by Dawe, he gives them an ironic title, like ‘Breakthrough’.A breakthrough generally means a discovery of some sort, but in this case, Dawe uses ‘Breakthrough’ as a way of showing that the death of a child can be exploited by advertising and materialism.
Irony is used right throughout both poems. Dawe uses it to degrade and belittle people. For example, in Breakthrough the line “the frail heart crumples like a paper cup” refers to a child's heart being degraded to the crumpling of paper. The use of the paper cup makes a heart worthless even though it is something that is essential to life.But however, this could also be viewed as a simile.
“Smiling at The Many Faces Of Dick Emery – and Fate”. Similarly in ‘Televistas’, irony is also commonly used. In this case, it is used to give emphases to a double meaning, as in fate in a relationship, and ‘fate’ as in a television program, or “They bravely faced the Mid Week Movie: (NRC) The Mummy’s Hand. This line refers to the movie as being terrible and not knowing if it will be bearable to watch. In “Breakthrough”, “earth’s loss is heaven’s gain” refers to the innocent child ascending into heaven.This emphasizes that earth has experienced a great loss but it doesn’t recognize the loss, it only recognizes the importance of advertising and making money.
“ Downysoft is draped around the stars”. Dawe is demonstrating how a beautiful atmosphere is being draped in a typical toilet paper, by appropriating it with the heavens, and placing it in the unlikely context, where the stars are natural and toilet paper is man made and boring. The importance of advertising is again recognized in ‘Televistas’, “Fortune smiled between commercials”.Again this demonstrates a corruption in the way people live there lives, and how it degrades the natural patterns of family lives. In the poem ‘Breakthrough’, Dawe does not use many poetic techniques unlike ‘Televistas’.
For example, in ‘Breakthrough’, there is no rhyming or motif, and only one use of alliteration (‘toilet – tissue’). However, ‘Televistas’ is based around rhyming is used – “Sylvester and Tweety pie” “where each other seeks the other eye” in every stanza. Metaphors are also used – “She was Sanyo-orientated” “He was Rank - Arena bred”.Dawe is referring to the people as different brands of televisions, as a ‘Sanyo television was almost second class to ‘Rank - Arena’. In conclusion, according to Dawe, in the advertising world nothing is sacred anymore. He gives you an idea about the harsh consequences materialism and advertising has on society, and deeply expresses how the media controls our lives, relationships and even death.
He also challenges in both poems how television and advertising corrupts spiritual and moral values, and fosters shallow relationships which controls and degrades patterns of family lives, and human society.
