Requiem in a Townhouse Owen Marshall

21st October 2014

Requiem in a Townhouse is the story of a retired country farmer who becomes urbanised once he moves to the town on the request of his wife. The author, Owen Marshall uses the scene of the town house in particular, to convey the mood of the poem and the emotions the old man feels about the house but also his struggle with dementia. The story furthermore shows him becoming isolated and lonely in his own house but more saddening in the sense that his issues are misunderstood.

The author presents the new townhouse as a place that holds him in captivity in his retirement when many would consider retirement the one time in life you are free from any commitments as you no longer have to work.

“Mr Thorpe would stand up and walk three paces to the window to see the traffic and three paces back again. he would look up at the knives on their wall holders, and wonder at his shrunken world.”

This part of the text related to me especially because it allowed me to consider that sometimes spending more money earlier in life is almost a better investment than later in life when you are unable to experience your fortunes because of medical conditions and old age like Mr. Thorpe is suffering in this text. There is a lot of pressure on young people to save for their retirement, yet most of this advice to save comes from older people who have already experienced their 20’s and 30’s who forget the importance of spending money on fun and things that may not have monetary reward. Also in this quote above the author is contrasting the small nature of the townhouse by showing the short time for the man to cover the area to the “sixteen hundred hectares of hill country” which the farmer obviously misses.

The author poses disturbing reality of what life is like as a old person with dementia. “He sat in front of the television, but no matter how loud he had it the words never seemed clear.” Shows Mr. Thorpes struggle to comprehend what is being said, although he is aware of this issue he is              unable to communicate how he simply cannot understand it even though he can hear it. Furthermore, everything moves too fast for Mr. Thorpe, the mailman says hello and goodbye before he can get a word out and as he moves to cross the street the green man has already turned red again. This poem interested me because it portrayed old people as always unintentionally being one step behind yet trying to comprehend in real time. What disturbs me more though is the lack of awareness from his wife or the doctor to what he is actually feeling as he never gets a chance to express himself (as they are too fast!) and is always misunderstood for trying to hide away.

Tim Armstrong