Brooklyn cop essay int 2

It concerns the dangerous and violent world that policemen in New York, or anywhere in the world can face. By portraying the cop as both a threatening animal and as a vulnerable human being, McCaig questions how civilised modern society is and suggests the dehumanising nature of violence.

MacCaig ends the stanza by repeating the gorilla image from the opening line. Instead of a simile saying the cop is like a gorilla, a metaphor is used, making the comparison stronger. To the policeman, Hiya Honey, is no cliché’.

First published in MacCaig’s 1968 Rings on a Tree collection, Brooklyn Cop is, like Hotel Room, 12th Floor, inspired by a trip to New York. New York City is made up of five boroughs. Of these, Brooklyn has the largest population. At the time it was considered a tough and dangerous place.

In the first stanza, MacCaig creates an almost cartoon-like image of an American police officer. The physical description and the phrases he uses suggest a stereotype from a film or tv drama. But MacCaig also hints at the human being behind this image. MacCaig opens the poem with a simile that demonstrates the policeman’s physical potential.