A Complete Guide to ‘Stealing’ by Carol Ann Duffy Critical Essay

Remember the purpose of a critical essay is to answer a question and

show off your knowledge of the text and language.

Step 1
Look at the question and make sure you understand it.
This line
helps
you pick Choose a poem that features a convincing character.
the text
By referring to poetic techniques, explain how the poet creates a
convincing portrayal of the character.
This line
 Your task is to write 4 paragraphs that convince me tells you
Duffy created a realistic character. what to do

 Every paragraph should deal with a different stanza and you must
quote in each paragraph.

 After each quote you must analyse the language and explain how
this makes the persona believable.

Step 2
Introduction

This must include the following:

 Title of the poem in inverted commas
 The poet’s full name
 A brief summary of the poem
 A reference to the theme of the poem
 A link to the question

Eg. In society today, there are many reasons as to why people are driven to steal. Carol Ann
Duffy’s poem, ‘Stealing,’ is a strangely disturbing and complex poem that explores the
motives of a thief who steals a snowman. In the dramatic monologue she takes on the persona
of a disaffected youth who pointlessly steals things he does not need. Through this nameless
speaker Duffy examines the psychology of anti-social behaviour and creates a convincing
character for which we feel both sympathy and a great dislike towards.

Now write your own introduction – use your group introductions to help
you with this.
Step 3
You will now write your four main body paragraphs but before we do plan
the stanzas and quote you wish to use. Remember you are selecting quote
that help you to prove this persona becomes real. Use your group
paragraphs to help you with this.

Paragraph Stanza Quote What makes it

convincing?
1 1 “The most unusual  Believable
thing I ever stole? because it’s first
A snowman….I person
wanted him a  Asks the reader a
mate.” question so
involves us
 Unexpected
response
(snowman) makes
him intriguing
 Get the
impression of
loneliness
2

4 5 “Boredom. Mostly
I'm so bored I
could eat myself.”
And
“You don’t
understand a word
I’m saying do
you?”
 Now write your four paragraphs using the PCQE structure.

P: A Example
statement /
topic C:
sentence In stanza four the speaker’s attempts at reassembling the Background
that makes snowman fail. Despite his efforts and desire to information
a point recreate this ‘mute’ friend, inevitably, the snowman from the
poem that
begins to melt: introduces
“He didn't look the same. I took a run the quote
Q: and booted him. Again. Again.”
Quote
The short statement effectively sums up the speaker’s disappointment
when the snowman’s appearance has changed. At this point the speaker
becomes frustrated and is overwhelmed with anger. Duffy uses
enjambment to create a sense of movement in the line “run” which mimics
E: Analyse the speaker’s actions. This powerful run up and the word choice “booted”
the help us to understand how forceful the speaker is when destroying the
language of snowman. “Booted,” meaning to kick has connotations of violence and
your quote.
force and this illustrates how angry the speaker has become. The
Comment
on repetition of the minor sentence, “again,” reinforces and emphasises his
techniques anger as he repeatedly kicks the snow in a tantrum. We almost feel
and show sympathy for him here as it’s clear this rage is driven by his
how this disappointment – he longed for a friend and his efforts are creating one
makes the
speaker have not paid off. Duffy helps us to appreciate the intense emotions of
realistic the disturbed speaker and understand his isolation.

Step 4
Conclusions must include:
 A signal word that marks the end – i.e. ‘In conclusion, to conclude,
in summary, overall etc.
 The full poet’s name again and the title
 A final link to the question – summing up your essay
 Personal response to the poem
Example ‘Stealing’ essay

Carol Ann Duffy’s poem, ‘Stealing,’ is a strangely disturbing and complex

poem that explores the motives of a thief who steals a snowman. In the
dramatic monologue she creates the convincing persona of a disaffected
youth who pointlessly steals things he does not need. Through this
nameless speaker Duffy examines the psychology of anti-social behaviour
and creates a vivid character for which we feel both sympathy and a
great dislike towards.

In the opening stanza we are introduced to the speaker a conversation is

established. The dramatic monologue quickly involves us in the poem and
engages us with the persona:
“The most unusual thing I ever stole? A snowman.
Midnight. […] a tall, white mute
I wanted him a mate.”
Immediately Duffy gives the character a voice ad brings him to life. The
opening line is a question which makes us feel as though he is talking
directly to us. We begin to wonder who the persona could be speaking to,
other than the reader, and it becomes clear that there is something
vulnerable, childlike and lonely about the character. The minor sentence
serves to shock the reader as we did not expect the answer to be a
snowman. The fact that he steals a snowman, something typically
associated with children and joy, implies that he is destructive - perhaps
that something lacking form his own life. His destructive nature is
reinforced by the minor sentence, “Midnight,” which has darker
connotations. This word stands out and helps to remind us that our
speaker is a criminal as midnight is a time associated with crime and
danger. The speaker appears to be in awe of the snowman and there is a
strong contrast between the brilliant, dazzling white of the snowman and
the darkness of the setting. Duffy’s clever word choice, “mute,” serves to
highlight to us the true extent of the persona’s isolation, as there is
something sad about wanting a friend you cannot communicate with. We
could perhaps be drawn into feeling sympathy for the speaker however,
this quickly disappears as we delve deeper into the persona’s mind.

The speaker begins to painstakingly dismantle the snowman in the second

stanza. The description gives us further insight into his cold and uncaring
nature:
“Better off dead than giving in, not taking
what you want. He weighed a ton; his torso,
frozen stiff, hugged to my chest, a fierce chill
 piercing my gut.”
Even though moving the snow is freezing and hard work, he is pleased
because he knows there will be suffering. He puts a great deal of effort
into taking apart the snowman and we may be fooled into thinking it’s
because he is so desperately lonely. However, we are shown the
unsympathetic side of the speaker who goes through life taking what he
wants and not caring about the consequences. It suggests he has no
morals and will completely disrespect others without a care. Duffy’s use
of violent word choice and imagery –“fierce” and “piercing” – also help to
unveil the speaker’s cold nature. The word “fierce” is typically something
ferocious and frightening, whereas piercing reminds us of pain and
conjures images of stabbings and knives: both of which directly relate to
the speaker’s harsh personality. The alliteration – repeated ‘t’ sound -
almost mirrors the staggering effort the persona is putting into stealing
the snowman and we are reminded that his efforts are once again
pointless. His hard work is not going to bring him the companionship he
longs for it will only cause pain. The speaker is so complex and Duffy
cleverly gives us such an insight to his mind that we cannot help be
convinced by the disturbed character.

In the fourth stanza he returns to the topic of the snowman. He has now
completed the rebuild but inevitably it is no longer the perfect snowman
he desired:
“He didn't look the same. I took a run
and booted him. Again. Again. My breath ripped out
in rags …Then I was standing
alone among lumps of snow, sick of the world.”
Stealing a snowman, which is not something permanent, shows us his
mentality; he hasn’t time to think or consider his actions, instead he
simply acts and does as he pleases. The short statement effectively sums
up the speaker’s disappointment when the snowman’s appearance has
changed. At this point the speaker becomes frustrated and is
overwhelmed with anger. Duffy uses enjambment to create a sense of
movement in the line “run” which mimics the speaker’s actions. This
powerful run up and the word choice “booted” help us to understand how
forceful the speaker is when destroying the snowman. “Booted,” meaning
to kick has connotations of violence and force and this illustrates how
angry the speaker has become because he’s efforts have been for
nothing. His rage is reinforced by the repetition of the minor sentence,
“again,” reinforces and emphasises his anger as he repeatedly kicks the
snow in a tantrum. Also, the enjambment of ‘alone’ is significant in
illustrating, once again, his isolation as our attention is drawn to this line.
We almost feel sympathy for him here - his efforts have failed and he is
once again lost, detached from society and lonely - and it’s clear this rage
is driven by his disappointment – he longed for a friend and his efforts
are creating one have not paid off. Duffy helps us to appreciate the
intense emotions of this realistic and disturbed speaker and understand
his isolation.

In the final stanza, the speaker’s intense boredom and desire for
companionship are very apparent. His detachment from society is clear
again:
“Boredom. Mostly I'm so bored I could eat myself.”
The minor sentence helps to emphasise the persona’s depression as it is
so bold. It’s clear he does not enjoy life. This idea is repeated to stress
the intensity of his disinterest. The image is an identification of the
narrator's life, boredom, punctuated only by random acts of vandalism,
theft and cruelty. There is no meaning to his/her actions other than to
satisfy and entertain at other's expense. This line is also quite disturbing
as it hints at self-harm and again makes us consider if underlying
psychological issues are affecting him. The poem ends on depressing point
that creates a sense of hopelessness indicated by the final question, “You
don’t understand a word I’m saying do you?” This challenge to the reader
suggests the persona is misunderstood as we do not clearly and
definitively know the real reasons that motivate the thief. The tone of
the ending – depressive and dark – neatly sums up the persona’s
disaffected nature and isolation. We are left to wonder at the social
upbringing and society in which the speaker lives and what will happen to
him.

In conclusion, Carol Ann Duffy’s poem ‘Stealing’ creates a highly realistic

and vivid character that we have mixed feelings towards. She uses a
variety of clever techniques to convince us this character could exist. We
are given an insight into her character’s motivations, his desires and his
emotional instability. In reading this poem we are shown both the
disturbing sides of criminals but also the softer side. Duffy makes us
question society’s role in anti-social characters and makes us think are we
doing enough to help people who, like this speaker, are living on the
outside of society, disaffected with no way out.