Sunny Prestatyn - Larkin

Sunny Prestatyn is another of the advertisement poems by Larkin. From within the first stanza the girl 'laughed' on the poster. It's as if she is literally mocking the people who fall for the advertisement of beach holidays on the poster. Larkin could be making a comment that today's society has become laughable because we are so easily fooled through advertisement, Larkin may wonder what we have become as a society. We also get the sense of an idealised version of the sexual appearance of the woman on the poster. 'Hotels with palms seemed to expand from her thighs and spread breast-lifting arms'. This acts as the perfect image that a woman should look like, Larkin is commenting about the dominance of advertisement to do with appearance, it's as if Larkin views women in society as trying to become this perfect sexual image, in a way this quote acts as soft porn and could be considered rather misogynistic towards women.

In stanza two the woman was 'slapped up' one day. This could be because the actually image of her is rather implicit and that she may of been asking for it. However, on the other hand the people that did this to her seem to have no moral conscious. The fact that she was 'slapped' suggests a violent act, that may be stereotypical of teenagers. The idea of teenagers or children carrying out this act is further conveyed through the quote 'was snaggle-toothed and boss-eyed; huge tits and a fissured cock'. This seems rather childish and the word 'snaggle-toothed' suggests this and conveys a rather humorous image which adds a rather humorous side to the poem. We also get the visual interpretation of rape towards the end of this stanza through the quote 'Between her legs had scrawls that set her fairly astride a tuberous cock and balls'. This suggests an immature act, Larkin may be conveying the idea that society is dumming down and that teenagers may have no use within the modern world. So within this poem we also see Larkin being critical of other groups of society similar to some of his other poems such as The Whitsun Weddings and Afternoons.

Within the last stanza it is 'autographed Titch Thomas' suggesting that the person who did this was not afraid to convey his radical views. The graffiti is also done through 'a knife' and this is another common association of a weapon that a teenager would carry around. During the last part of this stanza Larkin makes a comment on the world through the quote 'Now Fight Cancer is there'. Larkin maybe commenting that the modern world has turned into a cancerous almost parasitic place.