Throughout the entire poem Mr Fear by Lawrence Raab, "fear" is personified as being a living, breathing human. By giving "fear" human like qualities, Raab is able to let the audience view fear in a different way.
The tone in the poem is an almost tired, "fed up with" voice of fear, perhaps living in fear. "Mr. Fear, we say in our dreams, what do you have for me tonight?" Raab seems to be so used to fear that he is blatantly asking, "what are you going to scare me with tonight?"
Later in the poem, Mr. Fear is thought to either smile or feel sorry about pulling the fears out of his "black sack of troubles." By giving the option of the audience deciding whether or not they think fear is evil at its core, Raab is adding to the idea of Mr. Fear being a human. The indecision and possibility of a good guy steered in the wrong way is the core of all human's mistakes.
Contradicting the beginning of the poem when Raab seems almost bored of fear, he pleads that fear "Make it small, please. Let it fit in my pocket, let it fall through the hole in my pocket," showing that no matter how fearful he can tell himself he is, fear still has an underlying power that can not be defeated. This "power" that fear holds - even to a fearless person - shows the audience how real fear is. Fear is a part of everyone's life, and Raab uses the pleading as a way to comfort those scared souls to show them that it's normal to be fearful.
Towards the end of the poem, Raab hints at his views of fear being evil. "Fear, let me have a small brown bat and a purse of cricket" implies youth and innocence. The idea that fear is preying on the young and the weak implies he is no "good guy steered wrong," but a guy who enjoys to bring unhappiness and despair into people's lives.
I think Raab is trying to take a stance against fear, but he "can't" do it by himself - he needs the support of loved ones. I like the poem because it is saying, in its own way, that it's okay to be scared, but if you have the support you need to believe - not let something as small and common as fear stand in your way.
I think you sum this up nicely after making a nice analysis of Raab's personification of fear: "I think Raab is trying to take a stance against fear, but he "can't" do it by himself - he needs the support of loved ones. I like the poem because it is saying, in its own way, that it's okay to be scared, but if you have the support you need to believe - not let something as small and common as fear stand in your way."
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