Leaving Certificate Ordinary Level – Excellence in English Language and Literature
Setting
The setting is an attic in a typical family home.
The fact that there is a Cadillac in the attic is surprising, to say the least. We expect to see a car on the street or in the garage, but certainly not in the attic! The attic is where people generally store things that are no longer needed or considered valuable. A Cadillac is a luxury car, so it would not normally belong in such an out-of- the-way place, even if it has ‘sloppy paint, bald tires,/and orange rust chewing at the rocker panels’. The repetition of the phrase ‘a Cadillac in the attic’ at the end of each line reminds us over and over how extraordinary this story is.
Relevance
Hudgins said this poem could be seen as a refl ection of the art of writing. In the poem, someone has gone to a great deal of trouble to dismantle and reconstruct a car in an unexpected place. This idea of art as something that challenges the status quo is always relevant. If ever you asked yourself why an artist, a poet or a writer put so much time and energy into crafting their work, this poem is for you. If you ever wanted to do something that might be diffi cult or impractical and had no obvious benefi t beyond enjoyment, then this poem is for you.
The poet uses inclusive language to express the universal astonishment people feel on discovering someone has gone to immense trouble to produce something of no apparent value or with no clear purpose: ‘”Why’d he do it?” we asked.’ The answer is that ‘he did it for pleasure’.
