Visting Hour: Theme; Fear

Visting Hour: Theme; Fear

‘Visiting Hour’: Theme; Fear

Appearance of Fear

• Right from the outset, a sense of dread colours MacCaig’s experience when heading to visit his critically ill relative in the hospital.
• Fear manifests in different ways - through the nervous actions of the hospital staff, and in the speaker’s own sense of helplessness and emotional turmoil.

Physical Expressions of Fear

• Fear is expressed in the nurses’ hurried movements, indicating the urgency of the situation and the anxiety surrounding patient care.
• Throughout the poem, the speaker’s fear is portrayed physically; his trembling hands, the numbness he feels, and the “wild” pulses at the end of the poem.

Personal Fear

• The speaker’s fear is primarily a fear of loss - the impending passing of a loved one is a source of grave dread and anxiety.
• There’s also the fear of confrontation, of having to face reality and not being able to escape from the inevitability of death.

Fear Generated by the Setting

• The hospital environment feeds into the speaker’s fear, from the imposing, impersonal corridors to the eerily silent rooms.
• The use of words like “corpse” and “vanishes” create a sense of unease and dread that add to the theme of fear.

Overcoming Fear

• Despite his fear, the speaker is determined to put on a brave face for his loved one, wanting to leave behind a semblance of normality and positivity.
• The act of overcoming his worry and visiting his sick relative demonstrates the power of courage and love over fear.

Summary

• ‘Visiting Hour’ represents fear in various ways, conveying it through the physical, emotional, and environmental aspects of the poem.
• Although fear is a dominant emotion in the poem, MacCaig’s speaker ultimately confronts and tries to overcome it, showing the steadfast strength of human emotion in the face of daunting circumstances.