A Stone's Throw Poem Analysis

670 Words3 Pages
Critical Analysis of “A Stone’s Throw” by Elma Mitchell “A Stone’s Throw” was written by a British poet, Elma Mitchell who was a librarian and also worked in publishing and as a journalist. The poem was an adaptation from the bible, but to bring more focus on the events the poet portrays. The poem starts off with the search and capture of a woman and wanted to punish her for the sins she committed by stoning her to death. As they caught her, they roughed her up a bit, but in a sense they justified themselves by doing God’s work. The hunger for the accused flooded their souls and temporarily blinded their poor judgment. Until a “Preacher” intervened and the whole mood changed in the poem. He wrote something, and with that, he looked at the crowd and judged them, then she did the same. The “Preacher” took the situation and flipped it, so that even the crowd judged themselves. A sense of guilt crept up within them and hence, they walked away, but still clutching the stones they were meant to use. The power of words and suggestive glares can hinder or lead to temporary submission, as the truth reveals itself and pierces their judgmental armor and deem them powerless. The writer starts off with using “we” that suggest a group of people or a crowd. This crowd was vigilantly searching for a woman and…show more content…
The crime was only directed at one person, the woman. It’s unfair as it takes two to tango and only party receives the end of the stick. With this, discrimination follows as only the woman is being blamed for the crime and not the others who were affiliated with the crime. Although the crowd who claimed to be self-righteous, were in fact, hypocrites to accuse one person of a crime whilst committing it themselves, then proceed to justify their actions based on religion. To me, “A Stone’s Throw” depicts a cruel and ill-fated judgment of man and also the accused was just a stone’s throw away from her
Open Document