CHnage in sky high by hannah robert
... What does it tell us about changing? Sky high vividly explores the concept of change in the text. It shows how change is an inevitable process that may be either positive or negative but also something that cannot be simply evaded. The type of change/ transformation involved in Sky high is mainly concerning the changes from childhood to adulthood and how the child’s flight of indulgence and freedom cannot be sustained because of the inevitability of change. The text shows the process of change in various conditions; such as the change of self image (physical) and emotional change. In Sky high it mainly explores the changes of the physical aspect and how change in time can have devastating effects on the individual and also the non-human objects in the text like the backyard and clothesline. The character undergoes deep emotional change in the text as she matures mentally; this emotional change is largely represented by her changing perspective in which she views the world. However, as much as this poem explores the ideas of change, Abbot implies that the heroine, even though emotionally and physically changed; will always have some parts of herself of which will never change like the heroine’s antics to ‘impulsively’ grab the arm of the clothesline, showing that the inclination to climb is still there. How does the composer do this? Hannah Robert uses a variety of techniques to portray the concept of physical/emotional change in the text. The process of physical change is vividly conveyed in the text through various imagery and contrasting of the past and present. At the beginning of the text the character’s hands are described as “smooth, sweat-damp hands” (paragraph 2) which is then compared by Abbot to the aged character’s hands in the latter stages which have, “begun to accumulate the line-etched story of life”. The character’s physical change is also shown by contrasting her childhood body in respect to her older body in which she states that it is “unlikely the washing line could support me this time” implying that her bodily image has transformed. Not only are the physicals transformations of the character emphasised by Hannah Robert but the physical evolution of the clothesline are also highlighted through personification like the “silver skeletal arms”, in comparison to the “age warped” clothesline with “sagging wires” when the character has matured. Hannah Abbot also similarly instigates the use of imagery and contrast to portray the emotional changes that have stirred within the character. The audience is first made aware these emotional changes as soon as the character mentions that “there are too many things tying me to the ground”, suggesting that not only is her weight a problem but also the emotional and perceptive matters of being an adul...