Hitcher: An Analysis

1. Hitcher: An Analysis By Alice Kirkness and Billy Forsyth

2. Hitcher I'd been tired, under the weather, but the ansaphone kept screaming: One more sick-note, mister, and you're finished. Fired. I thumbed a lift to where the car was parked. A Vauxhall Astra. It was hired. I picked him up in Leeds. He was following the sun to west from east with just a toothbrush and the good earth for a bed. The truth he said, was blowin' in the wind, or round the next bend. I let him have it on the top road out of Harrogate - once with the head, then six times with the krooklok in the face - and didn't even swerve. I dropped it into third and leant across to let him out, and saw him in the mirror bouncing off the kerb, then disappearing down the verge. We were the same age, give or take a week. He'd said he liked the breeze to run its fingers through his hair. It was twelve noon. The outlook for the day was moderate to fair. Stitch that, I remember thinking, you can walk from there.

3. Used to replace apostrophes. Sounds romantic. The hitcher has freedom and no responsibilities First person narrative. Brings reader into poem immediately Hitcher I'd been tired, under the weather, but the ansaphone kept screaming: One more sick-note, mister, and you're finished. Fired. I thumbed a lift to where the car was parked. A Vauxhall Astra. It was hired. I picked him up in Leeds. He was following the sun to west from east with just a toothbrush and the good earth for a bed. The truth he said, was blowin' in the wind, or round the next bend. Fed up with life Pronunciation People putting pressure on him Matter of fact tone

4. Takes his frustrations out on the hitcher. The narrator envies him and his upbeat attitude to life. Personification. Return to normality, as if nothing happened I let him have it on the top road out of Harrogate - once with the head, then six times with the krooklok in the face - and didn't even swerve. I dropped it into third and leant across to let him out, and saw him in the mirror bouncing off the kerb, then disappearing down the verge. We were the same age, give or take a week. He'd said he liked the breeze to run its fingers through his hair. It was twelve noon. The outlook for the day was moderate to fair. Stitch that, I remember thinking, you can walk from there. Really violent images Ironic. For the Hitchhiker has been thrown out of the car door and is possibly dead

5. What’s the mood of the poem? Not a happy one. The author talks of how his boss is screaming at him constantly. He has been threatened by his job. To emphasise the negative atmosphere he writes: ‘ I'd been tired, under the weather.’

6. How does the writer use language in this poem He writes down certain words literally how they were pronounced. For example ‘Ansaphone’ but he also uses the smallest of details to set the scene. ‘Vauxhall Astra. It was Hired’ and ‘ Krooklok’.