For My Grandmother

KnittingLiz Lochhead

Liz Lochhead• Born 26th Dec 1947• Scottish poet and dramatist• Attended Glasgow School of Art

What’s the poem about?• Watching an old lady knit• Her transition through life, from a hard-working young

woman, to an unnecessary and frail senior citizen.• How she feels useless now, after being so necessary her

whole life.• How the elderly are treated in our society• Deeply personal and realistic in its ordinariness

For My Grandmother Knitting

There is no need they saybut the needles still movetheir rhythms in the working of your handsas easilyas if your handswere once again those sure and skilful handsof the fisher-girl.

You are old nowand your grasp of things is not so goodbut master of your moments thendeft and swiftyou slit the still-ticking quick silver fish.Hard work it was tooof necessity.

But now they say there is no needas the needles movein the working of you handsonce the hands of the bridewith the hand-span waistonce the hands of the miner’s wifewho scrubbed his backin a tin bath by the coal fireonce the hands of the motherof six who made do and mendedscraped and slaved slapped sometimeswhen necessary.

But now they say there is no needthe kids they say grandmahave too much alreadymore than they can weartoo many scarves and cardigansgran you do too muchthere’s no necessity.

At your window you wave Them goodbye Sunday.With your painful handsbig on shrunken wrists.Swollen-jointed. Red. Arthritic. Old.But the needles still movetheir rhythms in the working of your handseasilyas if your hands rememberedof their own accord the patternas if your hands had forgottenhow to stop.

Prezi Overview

• https://prezi.com/mhhigud8e1gi/english-literature-for-my-grandmother-knitting/

Structure

• 5 stanzas (unequal length)• Free verse• Enjambment (creates flow)• Chronological order of life events (mimics her

transition to old age)• Repetition of key phrases (drawing reader’s

attention to main ideas)

• Tone – matter of fact? Callous?• Mood – sad, encourages sympathy & empathy• Point of View – Written in the 2nd person (as if the

poet is addressing their own grandmother), but includes a strong sense of the grandmother’s point of view.

• This aids the reader in grasping how misunderstood she feels – there are 2 differing perceptions (her own, and her family’s).

• This encourages the reader to empathise, because we get insight into the grandmother’s feelings.

Themes• Aging & Conflict between Past and Present• Memory• Self-perception (she still feels as productive as she was when

she was younger, but her family do not perceive her that way)

• Transition from productive and essential members of society, to aged and ‘useless’ or ‘unnecessary’ senior citizens

• Transition from being the carer and provider, to someone who needs to be cared for – this is not a pleasant transition!

• Natural and unavoidable circle of life• Generation gap & misunderstanding of elderly relatives• Elderly trying desperately to contribute, but being under-

appreciated.

Symbolism

• Grandmother’s HANDS – they tell her story• Youthful and skillful hands as a fisher-girl• Robust, capable and hard-working hands of a mother and dutiful wife• Frail and fumbling hands of a senile old woman, now seen as incapable of

being useful These are the same hands! They symbolise her transition through different

roles in her life. She has always had to work with her hands, so they make her feel useful.

Hence, she clings to trying to be productive using her hands, as to her, it makes her still useful. However, her younger family members cannot appreciate this.

They have forgotten that she too, has been through all the same experiences they have, and more, yet they seem to discredit her worth because of her advanced age.

Her hands are still moving determinedly – they leave us with the question, are old people still productive members of society? Should they be respected and appreciated for everything they have endured?

Homework Short Answers & 1 Essay Question

• 1. In the poem, ‘For my Grandmother Knitting’ how does Lochhead explore the way the senior citizens are treated in society?

• 2. How does Liz Lochhead convey to her readers the process of aging that changes our perceptions of the old people in her poem ‘For my Grandmother Knitting’ ?

• 3. How does Liz Lochhead express the relationships and conflict between the past and the present through her poem ‘For my Grandmother Knitting’ ?