It sailed across the startled town,
over chapels, over chimney-pots,
wind-blown above a block of flats
before it floated down.
Oddly, it landed where I stood,
and finding's keeping, as you know.
I breathed on it, I polished it,
till it shone like living blood.
It was my shame, it was my joy,
it brought me notoriety.
From all of Wales the rude boys came,
it ceased to be a toy.
I heard girls of Cardiff sigh
when my balloon, my red balloon,
soared higher like a happiness
towards the dark blue sky.
Nine months since, have I boasted of
my unique, my only precious;
but to no one dare I show it now
however long they swear their love.
'It's a Jew's balloon,' my best friend cried,
'stained with our dear Lord's blood.'
'That I'm a Jew is true,' I said,
said I, 'that cannot be denied.'
'What relevance?' I asked, surprised.
'what's religion to do with this?'
'Your red balloon's a Jew's balloon,
let's get it circumcised.'
Then some boys laughed and some boys cursed,
some unsheathed their dirty knives;
some lunged, some clawed at my balloon,
but still it would not burst.
They bled my nose, they cut my eye,
half conscious in the street I heard,
'Give up, give up your red balloon.'
I don't know exactly why.
Father, bolt the door, turn the key,
lest those sad, brash boys return
to insult my faith and steal
my red balloon from me.
Commentary...
This poem is about the speaker's beliefs of Judaism and how they increase with time, despite other people's anti-semitism. The "red balloon" is symbolic of this. The symbol for the speaker's religion being a balloon could suggest that some people's beliefs in their religion are very fragile and can easily be changed by society's interferences. However, I get the impression that because the boy's balloon is "red" which is a very powerful and bright colour, that he has very strong Jewish beliefs and is passionate about his religion.
The red balloon "sailed across the startled town" suggesting that the town was shocked and almost frightened at the concept of Judaism. The balloon "floated down" and the speaker says "oddly, it landed where I stood", as well as this referring to how the balloon landed at the boy's feet, it made me of think of how Jew's don't decide to be Jew's, it's something they have no control over, just like how the boy had no control of where the balloon landed and it came to him, like Judaism did.
The boy kept the balloon as "finding's keeping", just like how he's kept his religion. The way the boy cared for the balloon by the way he "polished" and "breathed" shows how not only did he keep his religion and balloon, he flaunted it, and had pride in it. The speaker's balloon "shone like living blood", this could show an increasing obsession with his balloon and passion for his religion. I think this because "blood" is a necessity to live, suggesting a need for Judaism in the speaker's life. The speaker's passion for his religion could also be shown through it shining like "blood" by suggesting that he would draw blood for his religion and fight for it. Furthermore, the speaker could be saying how Judaism runs in his family's "blood".
The speaker's religion and balloon is his "joy", however they're also his "shame" and bring him "notoriety". One reason why the speaker may have presented his balloon and religion to mean equally as much to him may, be because to treasure and show extreme pride in a balloon is obviously quite unusual and would make a person stand out from others. Perhaps the speaker feels like the discrimination and prejudice against him for being a Jew is the same as it would be for taking the mickey out of somebody for treasuring something petty like a balloon, people don't understand that there's meaning behind it. Whereas the difference is that Judaism isn't something as simple and meaningless as a balloon, it holds lots of meaning and because of this the speaker cannot understand why he is being discriminated for it. As well as this, maybe the speaker is suggesting that Judaism should be celebrated because balloons are used to celebrate. If it wasn't for anti-semitism, then the speaker wouldn't feel "shame" or be notorious because of being Jew, showing that his inner feelings and thoughts about Judaism is that it brings him "joy". Boys came from "all of Wales" to discriminate the speaker about his religion/balloon, suggesting that Judaism was unusual at that time in Wales? His religion/balloon "ceased to be a toy", suggesting that because of the anti-semitism, the speaker wasn't able to simply enjoy living with his religion, his religion brought him joy and struggle at the same time.
In the fourth stanza, the boys lets go of his balloon, it "soared higher...towards the dark blue sky". However despite letting go of his balloon, the speaker hasn't let go of his religion, he just keeps quiet about it. This suggests that the balloon was a physical way of showing the boy's Judaism and because the boy's beliefs still remain just as "precious" to him when he no longer has the balloon it shows how just because you cannot always see something, it doesn't mean it isn't there. The rising of the balloon could also be metaphorical for the speaker overcoming and rising above the anti-semitism, maybe metaphorically he goes with it. He is no longer going to let others around him make him feel shameful for being a Jew.
By the speaker frankly saying "that I'm a Jew is true" to somebody suggests that he is much more confident and shameless about his religion. When the speaker's friend is saying how the red balloon is a "Jew's balloon", he says he should get it "circumcised", I think the speaker may be suggesting that the general public know very few things about Judaism, and one of the few things they do know about it is that male Jews often get circumcised. However, obviously it's impossible for a balloon to be circumcised, suggesting the friend had very little knowledge about it. I think this emphasises an ignorance in outsider's knowledge of Judaism and implying they will jump to brash conclusions without knowing enough information.
In the last three stanzas of the poem, there is quite a bit of violence presented against Judaism. Some boys "unsheathed their dirty knives...lunged...clawed" at the speaker's balloon, suggesting they were violently trying to take his religion away from him. However his balloon "would not burst", suggesting that his faith is too strong for anti-semitism to break it, he will never give up on Judaism. The speaker was then beaten up, "they bled my nose", "cut my eye", left "half conscious", this reemphasises how he will never give up on being a Jew and shows the reader how disgusting and awful the discrimination against Jews was. The reference to the speaker's nose could be to do with the stereotype of Jews that they have a distint, long nose. After being beaten up, the speaker still didn't "know why" people wanted him to give up on Judaism. Why would he know why? There's no legitimate and fair reason to try and stop someone from sticking to their beliefs (in this case Judaism) if they're not doing any harm.
In the final stanza of the poem, the speaker is trying to escape those that discriminate against his religion and try and take it away from him. He turns to "Father" for help. This could mean his own father or God. The speaker says to "bolt the door, turn the key", I think this may be referring to a coffin, suggesting that the speaker would rather die than have his religion taken away from him. Even if this wasn't referring to a coffin, the speaker is still being isolated.
A Larkin poem which I think links to this poem is 'Water' in the sense that it's about religion. I also think that Mr Bleaney links to this poem because of the theme of isolation and Dockery and Son because the speaker is presented as noticeably different to those around them.
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