'Red Balloon' by Dannie Abse.

When I first read this poem, I believed that the red balloon was a symbol of hope in a dull society. I believed that the boys who beat him up we're trying to steal his hope and take it away, metaphorically and literally leaving him 'hopeless.' I thought that his hope had come to him in his time of need, explaining why the town was 'startled.'

However, upon reading it again, I have come to believe that the balloon is a symbol of Abse's religion or faith. I believe that the fact that the symbol of his faith is a red balloon is used. To show how different his beliefs are to that of the other people at the time. Furthermore, I believe that the boys were trying it take his faith and destroy it in the poem, but Abse's faith was too strong to be destroyed.

I believe that this poem is to Larkin's 'Faith Healing' as both write about how strong people's faith is and what they can achieve as long as they believe. Also, in both, we see people trying to interfere with their faith. In 'Faith Healing,' we see someone taking advantage of the people's faith - the healer himself- and in 'Red Balloon' we see people trying to destroy his faith.