The Living Photograph

My small grandmother is tall there,
straight-back, white broderie anglaise shirt,
pleated skirt, flat shoes, grey bun,
a kind, old smile round her eyes.
Her big hand holds mine,
white hand in black hand.
Her sharp blue eyes look her own death in the eye.

It was true after all; that look.
My tall grandmother became small.
Her back round and hunched.
Her soup forgot to boil.
She went to the awful place grandmothers go.
Somewhere unknown, unthinkable.

But there she is still,
in the photo with me at three,
the crinkled smile is still living, breathing.
                                                  Jackie Kay

Synopsis

The poem talks about the persona's photograph of her grandmother. The persona describes the grandmother as being tall and who dressed up prim and proper. She had a kind smile and did not fear death. As she aged, Grandmother became hunched and forgetful. She has passed away but the persona still feels her presence as she looks at the photograph of herself and grandmother, taken when she was three years old.

Literal Meaning

Stanza 1

The persona describes her grandmother as tall and well-dressed with a kind

smile. Her smile comes from her eyes. On her deathbed, she held the persona's

small black hand in her big white hand. She was not afraid to leave the world.

Stanza 2

persona accepts that her grandmother has passed to the other world, as

all grandmothers do. Grandmother, who was of a tall stature became small,

hunched and forgetful.

Stanza 3

The persona at age three had taken a photograph with grandmother. When she

looks at the photograph, she feels grandmother's presence. To the persona, her

grandmother is still very much alive and smiling at her.

Figurative Meaning

Stanza 1

As we start off with our life, we stand tall and confident. We make sure everything is carried out properly without a flaw. We approach every situation with a smile even as we offer encouragement to others and receive support in return. When faced with an inevitable situation, we face the inevitability bravely.

Stanza 2

We can feel the onset of the inevitable as we look around and notice the signs of changes. We begin to lose our grip as things change beyond our control. We may even forget to do certain things. But, finally the situation is out of our hands and we have to let go.

Stanza 3

But sometimes there may be a memento to remind us of what we used to be.The memento helps to keep our memories alive.

ELEMENTS OF THE POEM

PLACE

• Britain, possibly Scotland where the poet grew up.

• In the photograph, the grandmother is wearing a white broderie anglaise shirt which is popular in         Scotland.

• The persona is most likely in his/her home as the poem reveals the thoughts of a child who is             looking at a photograph of the grandparent.

TIME

• 20th century

• The photograph is in colour and colour photography was expensive and not very common up                until the 1960s.

PERSONA

The persona of this poem is a child looking at a photograph of his/her grandmother and him/her. It is not clearly stated whether the child is a boy or girl. From the description 'white hand in black hand', The persona could either he of mixed parentage or adopted. The child is of reading age but the simple words used to describe the grandmother such as 'tail', 'kind', 'big', 'small' and 'awful'

indicate that the persona is not very old.

THEMES

REMEMBERING A LOVED ONE

In this poem, the persona describes the grandmother as pictured in a photograph taken when he/she was three years old. The persona describes how the grandmother looks in detail—the

clothes she wears, the way she ties her hair up in a bun and her kind smiling eyes. Then the persona recalls the changes in the grandmother's appearance and behaviour as she grew older— how her back became bent, and how she became forgetful. From the photograph, the persona goes to his/her memory of the grandparent. The grandmother is dead now but she still looks alive in the photograph.

FAMILY RELATIONSHIP
The poem focuses on the relationship between a grandchild and his/her grandparent. The photograph of the two reveals the bond between them. Grandmother is holding the child's hand in hers. Even though the grandparent and the child seem to be of different ethnicity as their skin 'colour' is different, they love each other. Even though grandmother changed into a bent-over forgetful old woman, the child still remembers the grandmother as she looks in the photograph.

LIFE AND DEATH

The poem is also about life and death from the point of view of the aged and the very young. The grandmother knew that she would die soon but she was unafraid—'Her sharp blue eyes look her

own death in the eye' (line 7). It also gives us the impression that grandmother would fight to stay alive tor as long as possible. To the young persona, death is a fearful thing. He/She understands that death is a place old people like grandmothers go. Death is unavoidable. Death is described as an 'awful place", 'somewhere unknown, unthinkable' (lines 12-13). That is why the persona is happy that he/she has a photograph of the beloved grandmother where the grandmother lives on. The photograph defeats death. That is the significance of the title of this poem'The Living Photograph'.

Moral Values

UNCONDITIONAL LOVE

The love between the persona and the grandmother is clear in the way the child remembers the departed grandparent. This is unconditional love; it goes beyond age, race and distance. The

difference in age and race does not matter. The distance between them, now that grandmother has gone away to an 'unknown place', does not change this loving relationship.

COURAGE

The persona recognises the courage with which the grandmother faces the possibility of death. In the photograph, the grandmother is said to 'look her own death in the eye'. In contrast, the child is fearful of death, the 'awful place grandmothers go'.

TONE AND MOOD

The general tone of the poem is nostalgic as the grandchild looks

at a photograph of the grandmother and recalls the past when

the grandmother was alive. The second verse has a serious tone

with an underlying feeling of fear as the child remembers the

grandmother growing old and weak and finally dying. The poem

ends on a positive note as the persona is comforted by the picture

of the grandmother.

LANGUANGE AND STYLE

The language of the poem is simple and reflects the vocabulary of a child. Many single-syllable descriptive words are used e.g. 'flat', 'grey', 'kind', 'round', 'big', 'tall', 'small'. The lines are short and have a basic structure e.g. 'Her big hand holds mine'.

IMAGERY

Colour words help the reader to visualise what the persona sees in the photograph, e.g. 'white broderie anglaise shirt' (line 2); 'grey bun' (line 3), 'white hand', 'black hand' (line 6) and 'blue eyes' (line 7).

CONTRAST

• 'tall' and 'small'

• 'straight-back' and 'back round and hunched'

• 'white hand' and 'black hand'

• 'kind, old smile round her eyes' and 'sharp blue eyes