The

Cockroach
The Cockroach

Kevin Halligan

Kevin Halligan

The Poet
Kevin Halligan was born in Toronto, Canada in
1964. He regards himself as an Anglophile and
has spent long periods living in England, but he
also travelled in Asia, where this poem is written.
Halligan hones his poems obsessively. He is able to
use a variety of forms with great control, and
deceptive ease.
He lived in Phnom Penh and worked for the
Cambodia Daily newspaper, where he became
acquainted with Buddhist theology.

Interesting Facts
Crushed cockroaches when applied to a
wound, can help ease the sting
Cockroaches have white blood
A roach can live a week without a head. It
dies after a week due to lack of water

Some More Interesting Facts!

Cockroaches can live a month without
food, but only a week without water
Cockroaches thrive in all conditions and
live in the desert as well as the
arctic
Fried cockroaches are common snacks in
Cambodia, as are spiders and rats

THE COCKROACH
Kevin Halligan
I watched a giant cockroach start to pace,
Skirting a ball of dust that rode the floor.
At first he seemed quite satisfied to trace
A path between the wainscot and the door,
But soon he turned to jog in cooked rings,
Circling the rusty table leg and back.
And flipping right over to scratch his wingsAs if the victim of a mild attack
Of restlessness that worsened over time.
After a while, he climbed an open shelf
And stopped. He looked uncertain where to go.
Was this due to payment for some vicious crime
A former life had led to? I dont know,
Except I thought I recognized myself.

Subject Matter

The poet is the persona in this poem

The persona watches the cockroach
The cockroach goes through obstacles on his journey
He feels pity for the cockroach, which is not usual.
The cockroach becomes confused and puzzled
Wondering what his life had led to; the end of his life?
The persona can relate to the cockroach; can see himself in
this creature.
The persona answers the cockroachs query with I dont
know this concludes that they are both confused
Both the Cockroach and persona have done something in
their life that they feel they are being punished for

Doing things differently!

In groups of 3, it is your task to present this poem.
You can:
Act it out
Create a comic strip version of the poem
Script and perform a dramatic monologue from the perspective
of the cockroach itself
Turn the poem into a story aimed at young children
Turn the poem into a rap or song and perform it
Create an information leaflet on a variety of aspects of the poem
Anything else that will lead to a greater understanding of the
poem.
WORK TO YOUR STRENGTHS!

Homework
Read the rest of this PowerPoint on the
Weebly. You will independently learn
about:
Themes
Structure
Tone
Language Devices
Rhetorical Question

Themes
Value of life/ struggle through life/Karma
Small insignificant creature, yet his life is precious to
him
Irony that a human would want him dead, yet he is
trying to save himself
The persona can relate to the cockroachs struggle in life,
and, therefore, is able to relate to it.

Loneliness
The cockroach is alone, ironic, as there are many
cockroaches in this world known as pests
The cockroach has no one to turn to in the time of need, he
has come into this world alone, and shall die alone
To get somewhere, or to reach a goal, you need to work
through it alone

Choices in life one has to make

The cockroach doesnt know where to go, he looked uncertain where to

go, but that choice could end in him dying, or finding freedom
The persona tells us that its the choices we make in life which end with
consequences we all must deal with

Main Idea / Theme

The cockroach is struggling to find his way around, until he becomes a

victim of a mild attack and starts to struggle with restlessness that
worsened over time
From this we can deduce that the persona is conveying the main idea,
which is: In order to get somewhere in life, one has to face many
challenges and cope with uncertainty. We too are dirty creatures that
have committed many crimes/ sins, and what we receive in the future is
a result of those sins we have committed in the past. By being victims
of a mild attack, are we getting what we deserve?

Structure
It contains 14 lines, which is a sonnet - a sonnet is used to
present a love for something.
From lines 1-8 the poem has a rhyme scheme of 'a b a b' "pace", "trace" - "floor", "door"
But then from lines 9-14 the rhyme scheme of the poem
starts to change into a weird rhyming scheme as "time"
rhymes with "crime" which is in line 12 but "shelf" in line 10
rhymes with "myself" on the last line.
The poem has only 1 stanza which conveys that life is short.
There is no rhythm in this poem
There is 1 sestet and 1 octet in this poem

Tone
A detailed fascination he has for a cockroach. He starts the
poem with admiration for the cockroach and later ends up
with sorrow and confusion as the cockroach is soon
portrayed as a parallel reflection of the poet.
Halligan also makes the reader have pity for the cockroach
with the use of the cockroach's movement

Examples:

" skirting a ball of dust that rode the floor"

" he turned to jog in crooked rings"
" flipping right over to scratch his wings"
as if the victim of a mild attack"

Language devices
Personification
There are quite a few examples of personification used in this poem.
Halligan refers to the cockroach throughout the poem as he, for example,
he climbed an open shelf. The poet also gives the cockroach human
actions. This language device gives a clear description of the
cockroachs action, connecting it with the persona.
Enjambment
Line 7-9:
And flipping right over to scratch his wingsAs if the victim of a mild attack
Of restlessness that worsened over time.
Shows the many various quick actions of the cockroach in this movement

Rhetorical question
was this due payment for some vicious crime a former life had led to?

Shows that Halligan has pity for the cockroach and himself.

Imagery
Clear images can be seen in the poem due to the adjectives used
Eg. Giant cockroach , Rusty table leg
This gives the reader a clear idea of what the surrounding is like at that
time of observation. The word rusty may suggest to the reader that
even he himself is like the cockroach, travelling towards his goal with
dirty things along the way. Also emphasises the brevity of life the
man-made object is old and rusty, but we pass by on our way to death

Points to consider
Consider the tone of voice of the narrator and
what effect this produces on the reader.

Suggested comparison with this poem:

Hunting snake by Judith Wright