in class essay Mr. Flood's Party

Prompt: What character from Mr. Flood’s party represents Tilbury Town?

            In the poem “Mr. Flood’s Party” by E.A. Robinson, there is only one character, Eben Flood.  In Robinson’s poems, he creates a fictional setting called Tilbury Town that represents a sense of hopelessness and despair that is felt by all. Robinson did this because he wanted to the put emphasis on the thematic idea that at some point, every one’s life comes to an end whether it is wanted or not. Robinson’s goal in his poetry is to portray a sadness that is felt through out all of Tilbury and the sadness that he personally experiences. 

            Eben Flood is representative of the town that he lives in. Tilbury Town portrays loneliness because there is no one in it. Eben expresses the loneliness in the way that he speaks with him self rather than another person. Robinson writes, “The road was his with not a native near;

And Eben, having leisure, said aloud, For no man else in Tilbury Town to hear.” This excerpt from the first stanza automatically sets the tone for the poem, and the diction chosen portrays the correct experience that the people living in Tilbury feel. The name “Eben Flood,” also reflects the characteristics of the town because his name is similar to the phrase of the “ebb and flow” of something. In this particular case, Robinson is referring to the ebb and flow of life.

            In Tilbury Town, life is somber and dreary just the way that Mr. Flood is when he realizes that there is no one there except for him. The ebb and flow portrayed in Tilbury is the same in life. At some point people move on and others are left behind such as Mr. Flood. Mr. Flood feels trapped inside of this world because he has no one to turn to except his jug because, “strangers would have shut the many doors that many friends had opened long ago."