‘Hitcher’ by Simon Armitage
In this poem, the narrator is an individual who is alienated from his job and
suffers the pressures of conforming to society’s expectations. As a contrast,
Armitage uses a hitch-hiker who represents freedom, but this freedom stirs up
bitter envy and frustration in the narrator and leads to a violent outburst.
‘Hitcher’ is a dramatic monologue that provides the reader with partial information
of the narrator’s thoughts and feelings – stress, detachment, jealousy, spite.
Stanza 1
The narrator was feeling under pressure as he hitched a lift to the
car he hired.
Stanza 2
He described picking a hitch-hiker up and the easy going life style
the hitcher was leading
Stanza 3/4 He tells us he beat up the hitcher while he was driving, then push to
Lines 11-18 him out of the car.
Stanza 4/5 He jokes that the weather is nice so the hitcher can walk the rest of
Lines 19-25 the way.
Structure
Visual shape of stanzas – 3rd line longer - arrow shaped - pushes towards the
point of climax. This parallels the narrator pushing the Hitcher out of the car.
End stopped lines and caesura in first stanza highlighting the narrator’s disjointed
state of mind compared with the enjambement in stanza 2. This highlights the
hitcher’s freedom from responsibilities.
Enjambement between stanza 3 and 4 suggests a loss of control –conflict
between responsibility of narrator’s lifestyle and Hitcher’s freedom.
Enjambement between stanza 4 and 5 suggests that his tension has been
released through the violent act.
Rhyme: Internal rhyme in stanza 1 suggests the thoughts that are whirling
around his head which are to do with the stress at work – ‘tired’, ‘Fired’, ‘hired’.
Stanza 5 – the rhyming suggest that he is more relaxed after the violent incident.
Language
The start of the poem uses everyday normal language – almost conversational.
This is important because it does not prepare us for the violence.
Violent language – the narrator describes graphically how he attacked the
hitcher. His descriptions are particularly shocking because of the casual tone – ‘I
let him have it’ – it is a savage, sustained attack.
Flippant remarks – he makes flippant remarks and sick jokes about the attack.
‘Didn’t even swerve’ – sounds as if he is boasting
'stitch' that I remember thinking,/you can walk from there.’
Play on words as the hitcher will need stitches if he is alive.
‘bouncing of the kerb’ - disturbing image, but matter of fact tone conveys
narrators detachment.
Essay title
Explain how Armitage presents conflict and violence in the poem ‘Hitcher’.
Use evidence from the poem to support your answer.
Introduction: Briefly explain the content and ideas in the poem and how this
links to the form.
Analyse two or three structure techniques that are used to present conflict and
violence (PEEALS)
Analyse two or three language techniques that are used to present conflict and
violence. (PEEALS)
Conclusion: Give your personal opinion on how effectively the poet conveyed
their attitude or ideas to you.
Remember
Choose your quotations and textual references carefully so that you can make
comments that show insight and strong personal engagement with and
interpretation of the poem.