Partial Responsibility For Monroe's Death example essay topic

The Death of Marilyn Monroe Critical Essay Choose a poem that deals with the themes of responsibility and innocence in an interesting way. Show how the poet's techniques help to convey these themes effectively. An extremely thought provoking example of a poem which deals with the themes of responsibility and innocence in an interesting way is "The Death of Marilyn Monroe" by poet Edwin Morgan. The poem centres around Hollywood sex icon Marilyn Monroe and how the life she lived and the people she met may have, in some way, contributed to her eventual death in 1962. The poem opens dramatically with four questions, written one after the other, conveying how the public reacted when they discover Monroe's death. This has the excellent effect of portraying to the reader the themes of responsibility and innocence.

"What innocence? Whose guilt? What eyes? Whose breast?" Morgan uses the word's "innocence" and "guilt" to further these themes and to emphasise just how childlike he believed Monroe to be. He also uses words like "eyes" and "breast" to create sexual undertones, which also emphasise and convey these themes further. In comparison to line one - lines two and three slow the pace right down and create a sense of vulnerability and weakness in Monroe which isn't present in the first two lines.

"Crumpled orphan, Nembutal bed white hearse, Los Angeles". Morgan uses the metaphor "Crumpled orphan" in further portraying this image of innocence. Morgan portrays Monroe as a child, a child that is broken down because of the life she leads. This idea of her child-like innocence is continued in the phrase "white hearse" which is usually associated with a child's death. It is here that Morgan first introduces the theme of responsibility for her death. In line five, Morgan significantly speeds up the pace of the poem by employing a similar idea that he used in the opening line, only instead of using question marks he uses exclamation marks.

He does this to try and place the responsibility for Monroe's deaths on what he believes are the most likely suspects. Di Maggio! Los Angeles! Miller! Los Angeles! America!" Here, Morgan repeats "Los Angeles" and as Los Angeles is the centre of the American film industry, he is placing partial responsibility for Monroe's death upon it.

In line five Morgan uses a hint of irony in saying that for Monroe, death was the only protector from the life that she led suggesting that she led a life so unbearable and awful that death was seen as a guardian and not a killer. "That Death should be the only protector" It is interesting to note that Morgan uses a capital letter for 'death', which emphasises and protrudes the word that has an eye-catching effect. The next sub-theme Morgan identifies is that of uncertainty. He introduces this in line eleven and personifies it.

This has the effect of increasing the idea of Monroe's lack of confidence and perplexity. The uncertainty, in this instance, is personified as a voyeur that watches her every move, gradually bringing her ever closer to her death. "That lonely Uncertainty should limp up, grinning, with bewildering barbiturates, and watch her undress and lie down". Morgan also employ's the use of alliteration in "bewildering barbiturates" to further accentuate the confusion of Monroe. Morgan brings up the theme of responsibility again in lines fourteen and fifteen as we see Monroe is calling for something that will "dissolve her."Call for him to strengthen her with what could only dissolve her!" The author is very clever here in using personification. He personifies "him" as the drugs that Monroe takes and as drugs are bad for your health, they gradually "dissolve her" and eventually kill her.

So we see here that Morgan is now placing partial responsibility for Monroe's death on the drugs that she was taking. The exclamation mark after "dissolver her" also contributes in it's effectiveness. Up until now, Morgan has just brushed the surface of Monroe's death and has never really commented directly on it. He begins in line twenty, where he emphasises the importance of communication in people's lives and how it helps to talk to people and discuss problems with friends.

"Let no-one say communication is a cant word". Morgan is trying to say that Monroe may not have died if she had just spoken to someone about her problems instead of keeping it all to herself. Morgan is now saying that Monroe might also be partially or wholly responsible for her death. If there's one thing I have noticed about this poem, it is the strong sense of irony portrayed throughout each stanza. Line thirty is an excellent example of this as Morgan seems to have finally decided that Monroe herself is responsible for her death but there is such a strong sense of irony present that the reader finds it hard to accept. "And so she was responsible" This short, ironic line prepares the reader for the closing lines of the poem.

The conclusion to this poem is very similar to the opening line, in that - a number of questions are asked, one after the other, circulating around the main themes of innocence and responsibility. "And if she was not responsible, not wholly responsible, Los Angeles? Los Angeles? Will it follow you around?" Unlike the opening line, these closing few lines have a much slower pace and ask more impersonal questions. Morgan has used repetition again in "Los Angeles" but this time replaces the exclamation mark with a question mark and asking the rhetorical question - "Will it follow you around?" creates the same sense of voyeurism as earlier on in the poem..