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The character of the hunchback

Point of view

Whose point of view is used in ‘The Hunchback in the Park’:

• the hunchback’s

• a schoolboy’s

• the park keeper’s

• a beautiful woman’s

• a nurse’s?

Be careful – the point of view shifts within the poem. Can you mark where this happens?

The character of the hunchback

The term ‘hunchback’ is now considered offensive. The medical name for the condition is kyphosis and it is the result of an abnormal upward curvature of the spine.

There are many ‘hunchbacks’ in film and literature and they are usually presented as outsiders or even monsters. The hunchback of Notre Dame may be the most famous of these characters. He was created by Victor Hugo in his 1831 novel of the same title and there have been many film versions of this story including a film by Disney released in 1996.The character of the hunchback of Notre Dame or Quasimodo is feared and ill treated by many of the other characters in the story but generates a great deal of sympathy from readers and viewers.

• From this description, what similarities are there between Hugo’s hunchback of Notre Dame and Thomas’s hunchback in the park? To find out more, you could read a summary of Hugo’s novel, eg wiki/The_Hunchback_of_Notre_Dame.

• What sort of character is the hunchback in Dylan Thomas’s poem? Choose four adjectives (describing words) to sum up the character of the hunchback and find evidence to support these points.

|Adjective |Quotation |

| | |

| | |

| | |

| | |

• The boys in the park treat the hunchback as a figure of fun. Find examples of what they say and what they do to torment him.

• What is your response to the way the hunchback is presented in the poem? Do you feel sympathy? Disgust? A mixture? Or something else?

The character of the hunchback

Point of view

Whose point of view is used in ‘The Hunchback in the Park’:

• the hunchback’s

• a schoolboy’s

• the park keeper’s

• a beautiful woman’s

• a nurse’s?

Be careful – the point of view shifts within the poem. Can you mark where this happens? Look particularly at the second stanza and the last but one stanza.

The character of the hunchback

The term, ‘hunchback’ is now considered offensive. The medical name for the condition is kyphosis and it is the result of an abnormal upward curvature of the spine.

There are many ‘hunchbacks’ in film and literature and they are usually presented as outsiders or even monsters. The hunchback of Notre Dame may be the most famous of these characters. He was created by Victor Hugo in his 1831 novel of the same title and there have been many film versions of this story including a film by Disney released in 1996.The character of the hunchback of Notre Dame or Quasimodo is feared and ill treated by many of the other characters in the story but generates a great deal of sympathy from readers and viewers.

• From this description, what similarities are there between Hugo’s hunchback of Notre Dame and Thomas’s hunchback in the park? To find out more, you could read a summary of Hugo’s novel, eg wiki/The_Hunchback_of_Notre_Dame.

• What sort of character is the hunchback in Dylan Thomas’s poem? Choose four adjectives (describing words) below that you think apply to him.

• Now write down each adjective you have chosen to describe the hunchback in the left hand column below next to the quotation that you think best supports the word.

|Adjective |Quotation |

| |‘A solitary mister’ |

| |‘Eating bread from a newspaper’ |

| |‘when he shook his paper’ |

| |‘Made all day until bell time |

| |a woman figure without fault’ |

Can you think of any other words to describe the hunchback?

• The boys in the park treat the hunchback as a figure of fun. Find what they:

► do to torment him in stanzas 2, 4 and 7

► say to torment him in stanza 3.

• What is your response to the way the hunchback is presented in the poem? Do you feel sympathy? Disgust? A mixture? Or something else?

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lonely angry kind funny rich

imaginative happy poor sociable

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