The Golden Years

1) What does Adrian Mitchell say we do to people when their working lives are over?

Adrian says that "when a man's too ill to work we punish him", rob him of half his income or replace it with "pocket money" and or place him in a retirement home to sit out the remainder of his live in isolation.

2) What does he think about this?

Adrian thinks that "the old people are being robbed" and says "to hell with retiring" he believes that the way that deal with old people (to have your ability to sport yourself removed and then being given "pocket money"). is an insult; He thinks that this is backboards, that the retired should have more money that before retirement.

3) Describe the impression he gives of retirement homes?

In the image of the text, a retirement home is a "basement", a dilapidated old building with "fungus" growing up the walls.

Nothing happens or ever moves "except the raught and the light and darkgrey figures" and the cat. A place where the "food" is so bad that an animal would reject it, a place where what is not dead is waiting to die, if not from the effects of time, but from the lack of stimulation.

3) How would he treat old people?

Adrian would give the retired "the freedom they always heard about", give them the money to live out the remainder of there lives in comfit and dignity.

4) The poet uses exaggeration to make his point. Find a couple of places where he does this and describe the effects it has.

[1] The description of the food available in retirement homes "the meat tastes of feet".

[2] The description of the type of activities that we should offer the retired "Print her a ticket to the universe, let her slum-white skin be tanned by a dozen different planets"

Such exaggerations like the above, make the text more interesting to read as apposed to using factual arrangement alone, give the text more substance as they offer the rearer points of reference to which they can relate to.

They also draw attention to the opinions of the writer (the food being bad and that the retired should be given the means to do as they please), being out of content in relation to the waiting they stand out.

I am the website administrator of the Wandle industrial museum (http://www.wandle.org). Established in 1983 by local people determined to ensure that the history of the valley was no longer neglected but enhanced awareness its heritage for the use and benefits of the community.