"Somebody's boring me, I think it's me" - Dylan Thomas (1 Viewer)

[StaceyK293920]

Question: The poet Dylan Thomas once said "Somebody's boring me....I think it's me". Explain what you think this statement means. Could you ever identify with this statement? Why or why not?


Firstly, I think the question is badly worded. What do you think it means? My mind is blank at the moment. Does the statement mean that Dylan Thomas was having a miserable, mundane life, hence bored? I have no idea.... :jaw:

And for the people who have read catcher in the rye, is this quote in any way related to catcher in the rye?

Thanks.

 

[SimonLee13]

Not sure, but i'll take a stab at it, perhaps Dylan Thomas was referring to how he himself makes his life boring? Maybe by choosing the safe options in life or something. With Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield is probably the opposite of that, he attempts to entertain himself at all times which is shown through his hobbies and his general outlook on his life.

 

[bored of sc]

My interpretation: The boredom in Thomas' life is the cause of another person. However Thomas realises it is his own temperament that is resulting in boredom. He is the work of his own boredom. His moods, thoughts, attitudes, ideas and philosophies he holds important have all contributed in some way to the monotonous, dull lifstyle he leads (or the lifestyle he thinks he leads). In this sense it could be possible that Thomas is suffering a psychological disturbance and believes he is bored as a symptom of something greater (e.g. depression, stress etc).

Some of the ideas above are stretching it a bit (a bit 'out-there') but I think that's how you have to think sometimes to try to understand the mindset of the composers when responding to their texts.

 

[Cerry]

My interpretation is that he feels that the reason he's bored it because he makes himself bored. Basically, his outlook is what's causing him to see everything as boring.
And if you interpret it that way, then yes, it is related to the catcher in the Rye. Holden Caulfield's misery in life is basically caused by the fact that he's determined to see everyone as phony, and hate everyone, and have everyone except for Phoebe (that's what his little sister was called, right?) hate him, allowing him to keep going with his "poor little me, everyone hates me, everyoe's so phony, and the world is against me" attitude. The fact of the matter is, he's just as phony as everyone else, if not more, and if he didn't purposely act like a dick to everyone he knew, then he wouldn't be so miserable.
To relate that back to Dylan Thomas' quote, Dylan thinks that there's someone boring, and recognises that it's him that is causing his boredom. Holden, on the other hand, thinks that someone is phony, and annoying, but insists that it's everyone else, not himself, therefore making the problem worse.

Of course, I find that a lot of people have sympathy for Holden, and love the book, unlike me, so feel free to completely disagree. But I hope that helps.

 

[R0N1N]

Here's my interpretation based on something that happened to me today. I am not going to get into details but it concerns a personal character flaw that has caused a lot of problems in the past and today once again, and initially I was furious at another person eventhough it was caused by my actions, but I then came to the realisation that I cause it to happen, so for me the interpretation I'm bored of making the same mistake and I realised I need to change it. So maybe it could refer to realising a bad habit or character trait and taking responsibility for it?