Theme (4)

The poem tackles ways in which a child’s upbringing is affected by the parents’ efforts to do the right thing; ‘we did what was best’ Duffy presents the idea of real and imagined mistreatment of the child, who feels wronged by their parents, but is met with denial and dismissive responses Parents often feel the need to hide the truth from their children and resort to overprotective behaviour Parental fallability is explored as they deny the reality of the child's fears - this ultimately strips their other denials of any credence - Memory - Betrayal