Link to the poem: https://allpoetry.com/poem/8508973-Coffee-by-Richard-Brautigan
Coffee By Richard Brautigan-Textual analysis
The poem Coffee by Richard Brautigan is his reflection towards love and relationship. In the poem, the author utilises literal devices such as symbolism, double entendre and diction to create layered senses, provoking emotional responses from the target audience. As one of the themes is to reveal the cruel truth of love, Brautigan employs a story-telling tone to lead the target audience to explore different circumstances when the love is gone, making them feel more relatable to the content. Therefore, the target audience of the text might be the one who has felt the same way before. Moreover, this unique style is blended in the structure of the poem, which enhances the messages delivered by the author and allures the interest from the target audience.
One feature of the poem that read stands out is its uses of symbolism. The central image “coffee” is used repetitively in the poem, which develops the flow of the storyline at different stages. The meaning of the “coffee”, however, may possess some ambiguity through the text. Therefore, the target audience may have different understandings towards “coffee” at different stages of the text. At the start of the poem, the author uses a rare diction “intimacy” to express what a cup of coffee offers, striking the target audience with this unusual expression. The adjective “intimacy” is normally used in the context of the relationship, and therefore, the author may imply that “coffee” symbolises feelings relating to love. Moreover, this use of diction provokes speculations from the target audience, which helps to gain their attention instantaneously. When the plot develops to the next stage, “a cup of coffee” becomes a bond to maintain the interactions between the protagonist and his love interest, which is a rather bizarre setting. To make the situation even more absurd, the author plays with the meaning of “a cup of coffee”. In slang, this phrase is an indirect expression of sex. However, both of the protagonist and the girl take the literal meaning of it, which may add some humour elements to the text. Alternatively, it may suggest the bitter ending of their love affair, as neither of them has the incentive to save their relationship. Following this point, “coffee”’s bitterness may reflect the devastating effects caused by love, which explains the reason why the protagonist describes coffee as “the last thing I ever wanted.” The symbol of “instant coffee” offered by the lady suggests her strong contempt towards the protagonist, which enhances the tension between them. Compare to ground coffee, “instant coffee” is a fairly cheap treatment to give to the guests, and therefore, her decision to offer him “instant coffee” may reflect her indifferent attitude. Also, “instant” coffee takes the lady less time and effort to make, which corresponds to her line “I don’t want to talk”, showing that she has no intention to sort things out with the protagonist through conversation. Instead, she wants him to leave now. Nonetheless, the audience will regard the symbol “coffee” as a representation of failed relationship at this stage of the plot.
The meaning of “a cup of coffee” continues to develop when the protagonist meets the second lady. However, at this time, their different perspectives towards the phrase causes some dramatic tension. The lady takes the implied meaning of “a cup of coffee”, and is disgusted by this rude request she interpreted. The phrase “What do you want?” uses a question mark to enhance its impact, which gives the audience an impression that the protagonist is not welcomed. Moreover, the adverb “slightly” highlights the level of awkwardness, as the lady is not willing to invite him into the property because she is not willing to have sex with him at the first place. On the other hand, the protagonist’s intended meaning behind ‘a cup of coffee” is to start a conversation with her, but he knows that it will never work, and his words and actions indicate his depression. The phrase “why don’t you talk to me?” uses a foregrounded structure to highlight the word “don’t”, which suggests that the protagonist desperately wants to start a conversation with the lady. Moreover, his attempt of using the first personal pronouns “you” and “me” highlights his effort in removing the barrier between them, which contrasts with her cold response. The question mark at the end of this phrase raises his emotion to the climax, making this request sounds like an act of begging, underlining the protagonist’s gloomy and despairing mental state. After being offered with another treatment of “instant coffee”, the protagonist has completely lost his hope, and it is reflected on the repetition of the phrase “I didn’t feel like to…”. The repetition intensifies the protagonist’s animosity towards the symbol “instant coffee”, and the negative tone embodied in the phrase may also suggest that he realises that his last attempt is destined to fail. This powerful delivery may help the target audience to realise the cruel aftermath of the relationship, which is one of the purposes of the text.
Other than the vivid uses of symbolism, the unique structure of the text also facilitates the author to deliver his messages. First, the text is written in the form of fragments, which interrupts the flow of the lines. However, since the whole text is written in past tense, this feature may be a visual representation of the protagonist’s disordered brain when he tries to reminisce. Moreover, the abrupt fragments make the text extremely hard to read, and therefore the target audience may feel the same level of frustration as the protagonist, facilitating them to have a more profound understanding of the text. Unlike poems that have rigid structures, this poem is in an absolute form of free flow: the majority of content is based on conversations, and the links between point to point are significantly weaker than other poems. This structure resonates with the story-telling tone, which shortens the distance between the author and the audience and makes the text sound interesting.
Conclusively, the text is the author’s personal reflection towards the topic of love and relationship. Though the theme is quite common, the author uses the rare symbol of “coffee” to centre the development of the plot and raise the response from the target audience. Also, he employs a poem like structure to visualise the frustration and desperation when love fails to work. Both of the unique stylistic devices facilitate the author’s attempt in revealing the cruelty of love.
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