Depiction of Modern Man in “Church Going” by Philip Larkin: A case study through Modernism

Abstract

This study aims at analyzing the poem Church Going by Philip Larkin through the perspective of Modernism that how the aspects of modern man and society are depicted in the poem. The modern man image in the present world is careless, spiritually dead, agnostic, materialistic, secularist and pessimist. The researcher attempts to scrutinize that, how Philip Larkin has portrayed the modern man in his poem.  To highlight the loss of religious values in the modern society Philip has deployed the theme of religion in Church Going. Philip has portrayed the three important stages of human life through the poem’s title. The research worker will analyze the depiction of modern man by interpreting the lines and through interpreting the implicit and explicit meanings of the poem. This study on one side revives the religious values where as on the other side also present the current situation of the church and its importance in the lives of modern man. Apart from the side of entertainment, the poem makes people understand the society of the era and infuse some self esteemed Christian values and realization into the minds of the people.