Understanding How Great Literature Embraces Ambiguity

It may be said that great literature embraces ambiguity because such writings provides us profound insights into the human experience - one of the most complicated topic in the world. Great literature provides a powerful insight into a vast range of human experiences reflective of universal existential concerns and the interactions we have with one another every day.

Taking Insights In Understanding the Complexity of Human Nature

For example Kenneth Slessor's poetry achieves this through his illustrative exploration of the complexity of human behaviour, revealing a range of paradoxical anomalies that challenge the reader's perceptions and assumptions about the way we think and engage with the world around us. Slessor’s haunting poems Beach Burial and Wild Grapes in conjunction with the provocative Australian Indie song Inappropriate Behavior by Lime Cordiale, encourage critical reflection on the various negative implications of social and moral corruption though the futility of war , thus, suggesting that overall, we have adopted a negative, pernicious nature. The poems highlight the inconsistencies of human conduct and how pointless deaths collectively diminish us as a society. Individually, Slessor’s Beach Burial, a WWII elegy powerfully explores death, loss of identity and the insignificance of human life, challenging the audience’s morals about the futility of conflict and the brutality of violence while Wild Grapes suggests that civilisation is in a time of crisis due to the hopeless despair of life after war which inhibits progress in society after the destruction. Moreover, Lime Cordiale’s song Inappropriate Behaviour, explores relationships and how manipulation and toxicity creates an unfair, unjust and unbalanced relationship whereby people treat one another poorly demonstrating how toxic human behavior affects our relationships which has a profound insight on a range of human experiences.

Slessor's Beach Burial challenges existential notions of mortality, critiquing the malleable nature of the soldiers’ ultimate sacrifice. The destruction of time on memory and commemoration is established by Slessor conflicting with the traditional symbolic connotations of the beach. The soft mellow tones exemplified in the first stanza, “softly and humbly” is used to evoke a sense of helplessness endured by the soldiers by encouraging the reader so sympathise with their plight. Graphic imagery of “dead sailors come[ing]” and the the line “ morning rolls them in the foam” constructs a visual sense of powerlessness of the soldiers in the morning being rolled around in foam, highlighting the transient nature of their lives. The pace of the poem increases in the second stanza featuring the evocative image of the deserted battlefield thought the “sob and the clubbing of the gunfire:”, providing a unique insight into the situation soldiers are confronted by on the beach which is vastly disparate to the experience usually had at a beach as well as challenging previous assumptions about what occurs at war. The men being ‘pluck’ed from the water suggests the lack of dignity shown towards them and the imagery of their ‘nakedness’ symbolically emphasises their vulnerability. The ‘ghostly pencil Wavers and fades, the purple drips” uses personification amplified by the “breath of wet season” effectively alluding to the dehumanisation of the soldiers through war as they are left and forgotten. Moreover, the simile “As blue as drowned mens lips” is intended to be shocking and gives a profound insight into the realities of violent conflict..

Slessor’s Wild Grapes further explores the inevitability of change and death through its sombre tones and expressive visual imagery depicting a once lovely orchard which has decayed with time. The simile ‘apples as bright at dogstars’ creates the image of a thriving and fertile orchard, juxtaposed to what is there now. Entropy on both a physical and emotional level is effectively expressed as the place degrades and perishes over time after desertion, an inherent human experience. Profound insight is provided through the paradoxical ‘harsh sweetness’ of the girl, clearly expressing how Slessor is uncertain about where he stands with the girl similarly exposed through the fact that the orchard is barren and facing an uncertain future. The list line of the poem referencing the rhetorical question “Kissed here- or killed here- but who remembers now?”. It questions the relationship of Slessor with the girl and leaves the reader wondering whether he had killed her or he loved her? What was the relationship? It is an ambiguous experience that was never going to last, it is gone now and it has been forgotten. These questions that the reader is left with and the techniques Slessor uses are significant in providing insight into the human experiences of inevitable change and death.

The song 'Inappropriate Behavior' analyses the story of a relationship being broken apart and the toxicity which results from manipulation as revealed by the friend who is trying to enlighten the other about the dysfunctional state of his relationship. This is achieved through the colloquial ‘Just makin’ faces’ which symbolically attempts to reason with the persona to help them understand the duplicitous situation he is in. This colloquialism is allows the reader to understand what is going on while the metaphorical “I was on the road to meet you halfway” highlights the need for a compromise in the relationship. If it is not achieved the relationship will continue to breakdown, a universal experience to which most listeners could relate. The multiple rhetorical questions in the fifth stanza, “is this how it ends? Has it come to this?” captures the uncertainty caused by the conflict in the relationship. It exemplifies the confusion that is encountered as the friend tries to make the other understand the toxicity of the relationship. This is further reinforced by “You never see me smile I'm falling at your feet again” with the repetition highlighting the cyclical nature of their incompatible and fractious relationship.

Conclusion

Conclusively, the three texts all reveal important insights into the range of human experiences associated with death, moral and social corruption and the inevitability of change through the effective use of paradoxes and anomalies that highlight how our inconsistent and irrational actions work to diminish society. These texts powerfully challenge readers’ perceptions of what is considered right or wrong in today's society which is despite the composers vastly different contexts. The themes and techniques Slessor and Lime Cordiale employ are very relevant in providing thorough insight into the human experience of death, moral corruption and the insignificance of human life.