The net by Julie O’callaghn

Question

Discuss the language used by the poet to describe her experience of the internet.

Answer 1

Hi Lyla,

Here are some initial thoughts on the poem that might give you some ideas. Try to extrapolate your own ideas about the poem through this short analysis, and don't be too intimidated by the prompt; vague questions like that are typically very flexible in their accepted answers.

I believe the the first and last stanzas of this poem are the most relevant to the question. The first stanza reads:

"I am the Lost Classmate

being hunted down the superhighways

and byways of infinite cyber-space.

How long can I evade the class committee

searching for my lost self?"

In the first line, O'Callaghan capitalized "Lost Classmate" as if it were the speaker's official name or title. This draws attention to the words, giving them a deeper meaning than simply being the lost student who can't be reached by phone or email; the speaker is identifying with the words in a deeper, more personal way.

In the next two lines, the reader begins to feel the mood the speaker has towards the internet; using language like "infinite" and "superhighway" to describe the internet paints a picture of freedom, which is starkly contrasted to those people trying to reach out to her who she labels "hunters" that she has to "evade".

The final stanza reads:

"Wearing a disguise, I calculate

the number of months left

for me to do what I do best,

what I've always done:

slip through the net."

"Wearing a disguise" insinuates that the speaker is using a fake profile to spy on her classmates. Why do you think the author chose to say it like that, instead of using the words "fake profile?" Perhaps it has something to do with the third and fourth lines of this stanza, where we learn that the speaker is used to lurking incognito on the internet, having apparently done it for a long time. She also acknowledges that she thinks she's rather good at it too. Lastly, we have the double metaphor in the final line. The speaker wants to "slip through the net," which is both a play on words about sliding with ease down the infinite superhighways and byways of the internet, and on slipping through the net of social expectations that society keeps attempting to ensnare her with, like hunters.

What a neat poem. I hope this was useful!

Best of luck!

-Heaven Morrow