A Case of Murder by Vernon Scannell

They should not have left him alone,

Alone that is except for the cat.
He was only nine, not old enough
by Vernon Scannell

To be left alone in a basement flat.

5 Alone, that is, except for the cat.
A dog would have been a different thing,
A big gruff dog with slashing jaws,
A Case of Murder

But a cat with round eyes mad as gold,

Plump as a cushion with tucked-in paws –
10 Better have left him with a fair-sized rat!
 But what they did was leave him with a cat.
He hated that cat; he watched it sit,
by Vernon Scannell

A buzzing machine of soft black stuff,

He sat and watched and he hated it,
15 Snug in its fur, hot blood in a muff,
And its mad gold stare and the way it sat
Crooning dark warmth: he loathed all that.
A Case of Murder

So he took Daddy's stick and he hit the cat.

 Then quick as a sudden crack in glass
20 It hissed, black flash, to a hiding place
by Vernon Scannell

In the dust and dark beneath the couch,

And he followed the grin on his new-made face,
A wide-eyed, frightened snarl of a grin,
And he took the stick and he thrust it in,
25 Hard and quick in the furry dark,
A Case of Murder

The black fur squealed and he felt his skin

Prickle with sparks of dry delight.
 Then the cat again came into sight,
Shot for the door that wasn't quite shut,
by Vernon Scannell

30 But the boy, quick too, slammed fast the door:

The cat, half-through, was cracked like a nut
And the soft black thud was dumped on the floor.
Then the boy was suddenly terrified
And he bit his knuckles and cried and cried;
A Case of Murder

35 But he had to do something with the dead thing there.

His eyes squeezed beads of salty prayer
But the wound of fear gaped wide and raw;
 He dared not touch the thing with his hands
So he fetched a spade and shovelled it
by Vernon Scannell

40 And dumped the load of heavy fur

In the spidery cupboard under the stair
Where it's been for years, and though it died
It's grown in that cupboard and its hot purr
Grows slowly louder year by year:
A Case of Murder

45 There’ll not be a corner for the boy to hide

When the cupboard swells and all sides split
And the huge black cat pads out of it.
 The Title
by Vernon Scannell

A Case of Murder
Look at the opening lines:-
“They should not have left him alone,
Alone that is except for the cat.
A Case of Murder

He was only nine, not old enough

To be left alone in a basement flat.”
 What would you have predicted from reading the title
and these lines? What effect does this create when
you realise who or what has been murdered?
 Central Themes
 neglect - boy left ‘home alone’
by Vernon Scannell

“They should not have left him alone…”

 cruelty to animals – specifically the pet cat

“… he took Daddy's stick and he hit the cat”

 fear – the boy is terrified by what he has done

A Case of Murder

“…he had to do something with the dead thing there”

 guilt – the boy ends feeling guilty about murdering his

cat
“There’ll not be a corner for the boy to hide …”
 First Impressions
by Vernon Scannell

 We firstly feel sorry for the boy.

“He was only nine, not old enough
To be left alone in a basement flat.”

 This turns to shock when we realise his attitude to his

pet.
A Case of Murder

“He sat and watched and he hated it …”

 This turns to horror when the ‘murder’ is committed!

“the soft black thud was dumped on the floor …”
 The boy and his ‘relationship’
with the Cat!
by Vernon Scannell

 dislike
“round eyes mad as gold …”
“Plump as a cushion …”
“A buzzing machine …”
“hot blood in a muff …”
A Case of Murder

“And its mad gold stare …”

 uncaring attitude
“the soft black thud was dumped on the floor …”
“And dumped the load of heavy fur …”
 Creation of Boy’s Character
 Left alone in a basement flat – sounds quite miserable
by Vernon Scannell

“They should not have left him alone …”

 Jealousy? Note how the cat is described:

“snug”; “crooning “; “soft”; “tucked-in”

 Is the boy feeling so neglected that he needs to hit out

A Case of Murder

 and hurt something?

 Boy looking for something to bully. Look at the lines:

“A dog would have been a different thing,
A big gruff dog with slashing jaws”
 Creation of Boy’s Character
Enjoyment of power.
by Vernon Scannell

“the grin on his new-made face”

Use of boy’s language.

“Daddy's stick “
“buzzing machine of soft black stuff”
A Case of Murder
 Effectiveness of Language 1
by Vernon Scannell

 Similes
“round eyes mad as gold”
“quick as a sudden crack in glass”
“Plump as a cushion”
“cracked like a nut”
A Case of Murder

 Metaphors
“A buzzing machine”
“hot blood in a muff”
“black flash”
“soft black thud”
 Effectiveness of Language 2
by Vernon Scannell

 Onomatopoeia
“slashing jaws”
“buzzing machine“
“Crooning dark warmth”
A Case of Murder

“snarl of a grin”
“soft black thud”

 Personification
“the furry dark”
 Effectiveness of Language 3
by Vernon Scannell

 Alliteration
“In the dust and dark”
“soft black stuff”
“dry delight”

 Assonance
A Case of Murder

“dark warmth”
“black flash”
“thud was dumped”
“snug in its fur”
 Effectiveness of Language 4
by Vernon Scannell

Rhythm
This speeds up as the cat rushes for the door.
This is achieved by a placing a rhyme in the
middle of the line.
A Case of Murder

“But the boy, quick too, slammed fast the door:

The cat, half-through, was cracked like a nut”
 Effectiveness of Language 5
by Vernon Scannell

Rhythm
This is then contrasted with one of the longest lines
in the poem;
“But the boy, quick too, slammed fast the door:
A Case of Murder

The cat, half-through, was cracked like a nut

And the soft black thud was dumped on the floor.”
 Grammar 1
by Vernon Scannell

 Verbs – look at the dramatic action words

“hit”; “flash”; “thrust”; “shot”; “slammed”

 Adjectives
A Case of Murder

“gruff”; “slashing”; “soft”; black”; “buzzing”; “hot”;

“dark”; “mad”; “gold”; “frightened”; “dry”; “salty”
 Grammar 2
by Vernon Scannell

 Nouns and Pronouns

He hated that cat; he watched it sit,
A buzzing machine of soft black stuff,
He sat and watched and he hated it,
A Case of Murder

Snug in its fur, hot blood in a muff,

And its mad gold stare and the way it sat
Crooning dark warmth: he loathed all that.
So he took Daddy's stick and he hit the cat.
 Structure
by Vernon Scannell

 Look at the structure of certain lines

“And he took the stick and he thrust it in …”

A Case of Murder

“Better have left him with a fair-sized rat! “

“Alone that is except for the cat.”

Repeated twice at lines 2 and 5