What are the themes and messages in the poem mid term break by Seamus Heaney?

Answer 1

Mid Term Break is telling the story of when Seamus Heaneys little brother, Christopher died when he was hit by a car. Seamus was away at boarding school when this happened, and this may be why he gives across a sense of isolation in the poem. He is driven home by "neighbours" instead of friends, and he uses impersonal words like "mother" and "father" to talk about his parents, instead of Mum and Dad, perhaps showing that he was not close to them, due to being at boarding school. He also uses a stanza break between the words "my hand" and "in hers" which could be showing that even though his mother is holding his hand, there is a distance between them. There is also the recuring thing, that he describes everyone elses feeling about the death "my father crying" "coughed angry tearless sighs", but he never mentions how he felt. This could show that he did not know how to feel, he was onl 12 and would not have had any experience of this thing before, or it could be that he could not feel anything because he had not been close to his brother, because he was at boarding school. He also uses puns throughout the poem. Firstly, the title "break" could be a break from school, or a break in the amily, or a broken heart, of Christophers broken bones. There is also when "Big Jim Evans saying it was a hard blow" which coul refer to a blow on the family or the blow hard blow on Chris. This could be his way of showing that there are more than one way to view things, 2 sides to every story.

Answer 2

it tells us that life goes on ..... and the theme is death