Question

Answer the following question in about 120-150 words.

Analyse the poems, A Roadside Stand and Aunt Jennifer's Tigers for the theme of inequality and its impact on the bearers.

Answer 1

'A Roadside Stand' analyses the economic differences between rural and urban places, while 'Aunt Jennifer's Tigers' investigates gender-based inequalities in marriage and society.

A Roadside Stand	Aunt Jennifer’s Tigers
A roadside stand depicts rural people's struggles with economic injustice.	It depicts Aunt Jennifer's oppression within her marriage.
Highlights the difference between urban and rural living.	Reflects on the social expectations and limitations that women face.
Reflects on how those in positions of authority exploit rural populations.	Investigates the issue of domestic oppression and its effects on women's autonomy.
Evaluates the loss of traditional ways of life due to modernisation and industrialisation.	Highlights the difference between Aunt Jennifer's internal world and her exterior reality.

Impact on the bearers:

• A Roadside Stand: rural people are represented as trying to make ends meet owing to economic inequities, resulting in emotions of dissatisfaction and hopelessness.
• Aunt Jennifer's Tigers: Aunt feels persecution and suppression in her marriage.
• Both bearers experience their separate injustices' psychological and emotional consequences, leading to a desire for independence and empowerment.
• Despite their difficulties, the characters in both poems desire to assert themselves through minor acts of resistance or aspirations of liberation.