Sunny Prestatyn

Themes
The difference between reality and advertising, the destructive nature of humanity, tainted innocence, feminism.

Content
This deliberately shocking and crude poem is based upon a poster for weekend holidays at the seaside, featuring women in provocative clothes and poses. These adverts were common during the 1950s and were seen as aspirational advertising due to also appealing to women who wanted to look like the pictures displayed. However, they were not accurate representations of the British seaside in any way, especially with regard to the climate. As the poem progresses, the poster is drawn upon and torn, until it is finally gone and replaced by another, more sombre poster.

Analysis

• The title 'Sunny Prestatyn' gives the illusion that this Welsh area of Britain was hot and tropical when in reality, the British weather was anything but warm, thus immediately showing how deceptive the poster was.
• The poster demands that people "come to" Prestatyn and reinforces this point with the image alongside the message, thus connecting the beautiful woman with the area of coast and drawing people in with false hopes. The fact that the "girl" is said as having "laughed" suggests a cheerful atmosphere, however, she is a "girl" and not a woman. She has not matured enough to deserve this status and Larkin is perhaps commenting on how women were exploited and led along like children. However, this could also be hinting at the idea of innocence, which is later reinforced when the colour "white" is used to describe the swimsuit-ironic as the woman is a symbol of sexuality, not purity.
• The swimsuit that the woman wears is "tautened white satin"-luxurious and flattering to her figure. She is the presentation of perfection- an adult perfection which Larkin clearly appreciated.
• In comparison to the woman, the actual area being advertised is simply a background image and described as a "hunk of coast". The word "hunk" is a pun with the duel meaning of being a chunk of something and the colloquial term for an attractive man, whilst also having negative connotations in terms of something be not well put together e.g. a hunk of metal.
• The rest of the scene pales in comparison to the woman's "thighs" and "breast-lifting arms", which are the parts of the poster that draw the viewer's attention.
• Moving into the second stanza, the poem becomes darker as the poster woman is "slapped up" on a wall-disrespected and degrading. The word "slapped" could be seen to link to 'slapper'-a prostitute who flaunts her body for admiration and payment. For all her beauty, she is placed without care-blackly comic.
• The poster is defaced and the woman reduced to a "snaggle-toothed" face with "huge tits". She is simply a sexual object and the crude language used by Larkin is deliberately meant to startle the reader. The "huge tits" are in stark contrast to the "breast-lifting arms" described in stanza one due to the fact that those who have doodled on the poster have made the woman lesser than she once was.
• The "tuberous cock and balls" that have been drawn on appear to be acts of violation and brutal abuse, as Larkin makes them seem, though the immature person who drew them is proud of their creation and has even "autographed" them.
• This wanton destruction and violence escalates in stanza three, with a "knife" being used to "stab right through...her smile". Brutal reality is creeping in and people are trying to destroy this false perfection. Despite this, Larkin still looks on the woman sympathetically and states that "she was too good for this life", with "was" suggesting that she has passed. The full stops proceeding and following this line emphasise the point by cutting the sentence off from the rest of the stanza and showing that Larkin is perhaps displaying feminist views. He is mourning the loss of her innocence and perfection but is only doing so because of her sexual attraction. Eventually, a large "transverse tear" (alliteration showing the extent of the rip and hinting at a tear of sadness/mourning)  signals the end of the poster and it is removed.
• The poem ends by switching to a much more serious tone with no trace of humour. In the place where the 'Sunny Prestatyn' poster once was is now a poster advertising the need for people to "Fight Cancer". The end-stopped line hints at the finality of the sentence and the reference to death but also how the idea of fighting a cancerous disease is more fitting for those who, as though possessed, have to destroy perfection. The idea of optimism vs pessimism and innocence being tainted is recurrent throughout the poem and this poster may last longer than its predecessor as it displays serious reality rather than deception. Contrastingly, another view is that the poster may have already been under the seaside poster, giving the sentence another meaning altogether and showing humanity's need to gloss over reality. Either way, once the beauty was gone, so was the value.
• There are a number of points Larkin is perhaps making. One is that ultimately, people dislike being deceived and that reality will always conquer illusion. The idealised women is torn and broken until complete destroyed. Moreover, Larkin is also showing humanity's innate destructive nature in that some people cannot stand perfection and have to ruin innocence while other people simply want a break from reality but grim reality always prevails. Larkin uses nihilism throughout to show the rejection and lack of moral standards.

Links to other poems
'Essential Beauty'-mocking the media's fake portrayal of an idealistic society, illusion and reality
'Love Songs in Age'-illusions shattered and forgotten to be replaced by sombre nature of life, deceit
'A Study Of Reading Habits'-crude and colloquial language, dismissive
'Afternoons'-decay
'Take One Home for the Kiddies'-the cruel nature of humans
'Wild Oats'-Larkin admiring the sexually attractive woman
'Ignorance'-beliefs broken down

Academic link: http://www.allinfo.org.uk/levelup/sunnyp.htm