Analysis of the Works of Dylan Thomas
Analysis of the Works of Dylan Thomas
Dylan Thomas creatively puts together characterization, atmosphere, and narration to both write a fascinating life story. “A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Dog” is a collection memories from Thomas’s childhood and earlier years. They are all set in Wales, which is Thomas’s homeland. The stories have a distinct Welsh feeling to them. Dylan also is very creative with his characters. They are never developed, like in a normal story, but rather just introduced. However, Thomas manages to make sense out of his stories, even though the only character that we grow a clear understanding of is Dylan. Dylan himself is the narrator. The writing style is quite liberal. Thomas freely writes what he remembers and what he observed. His work has a natural feeling to it.
The element that is noticed first when reading Thomas’s work is characterization. In “A Visit to Grandpa’s”, the two characters are Grandpa and Dylan. Grandpa introduced in a very unorthodox manner. Thomas doesn’t build up to showing us his true colors, but rather dives in and shows Grandpa’s true character. Dylan is visiting Grandpa in his country home, and is woken from his sleep by Grandpa rocking backwards and forwards in bed yelling at imaginary horses. Grandpa is already established as unusual before he even speaks. Dylan’s mother warned him that Grandpa “lit his pipe under the blankets, and had warned me to run to his help if I smelt smoke in the night”. Grandpa has a wild imagination that gets carried away at times. He is defiantly eccentric. When Dylan confronts him about his dreams, Grandpa tries to cover up for his insane behavior. He says, “Ask no questions…” and reverses the situation to Dylan. Although it is obvious to the reader that Grandpa is crazy, he will not admit it. It is known in the neighborhood that he is an eccentric person. It is almost routine that the townspeople have to go retrieve him when he runs away alone.
In “The Fight” the two main characters are Dan and Dylan. Dan is a typical teenage boy. When Dan and Dylan are together they bring out two different sides in each other. Both Dan and Dylan are creative people. Dan’s musical talent compliments Dylan’s growing passion for literature and writing. However, they also encourage a masculine pride in each other too. They admire each other’s wounds after...