How Has Heany Expressed His Concern About the Voice of the Silent And Oppressed?

Answer

How has Heaney expressed his concern about the voice of the silent and oppressed? [2020, 2016] ✪✪✪   

Seamus Heaney (1939–2013) was a great Irish poet. He always showed deep sympathy for people who suffered in silence. He lived during a time of violence and political conflict in Northern Ireland. In his poems, Heaney often spoke for those who had no voice — the punished, the poor, the forgotten, and the innocent victims of war. He made their pain known to the world through many of his famous poems.

Unjust Punishment of Women: In “Punishment” (1975), Heaney describes the body of a young girl found in a bog in Ireland. He imagines how the girl was punished cruelly by her tribe. He says he can feel the noose pulling tight at the back of the hanged girl’s neck.

“I can feel the tug…

of her neck.”

He imagines she was a helpless victim, punished for love by her tribe. Then, the poet connects this cruel punishment to the unfair punishment of women during the Northern Ireland conflict known as “The Troubles.” He criticizes how Irish people unfairly punished women for sleeping with British soldiers during the conflict. They poured tar on their heads, beat them, and tied them beside public railings. So, here, Heaney is expressing his concern for the oppressed women. He is criticizing people who wear a mask of civility. But deep down, they are misogynistic, just like the ancient people.

Remembering the Oppressed: In “Requiem for the Croppies” (1966), Heaney writes about the Irish peasants who fought and died in the 1798 rebellion against British soldiers. These rebels were called “croppies” for their short haircut. They fought bravely with only “pikes” and “scythes.” In this poem, the speaker is one of the croppies. He says they eat grain out of their coat pockets because they couldn’t stop to cook in a kitchen or to make a fire while running from the approaching British soldiers.