Introduction of the Poem:
Case Study, which appeared in The Unfinished Man, is the portrait of a man who could not make up his mind about his career or mission in life; he is, indeed, the unfinished man - weak - willed, wavering and irresolute. Believed to be the poet himself in disguise, he arouses considerable sympathy from Ezekiel. He may be weak but he is a well - intentioned persona who elicits our sympathy.
Summary of the Poem:
The protagonist finds that whatever he has done in life so far has been mostly off the mark. He has never known what exactly to do in life; he has been unable to follow the example set by his teachers. He hasn't been able to decide whether he should practise yoga, or study Greek, or go through life in a pretentious, bluffing manner, cheating everybody. After studying in an ordinary school and a worthless college, he entered into a foolish love affair. Then he tried to build some sort of career and, finding bookish knowledge useless, tried to enter politics.
He found his marriage to be the worst mistake of his life. Although he loved his children, he spoilt them with too much love and discipline. He then found that he had damned himself so far as his domestic life was concerned.
The man worked at several jobs before he stopped looking for more jobs. According to people, he was an unpractical person who conceived impossible projects that he later gave up. In fact, he never stirred unless he found something he loved. When he went to consult the poet one day, he was given this advice: You will continue to behave in the same purposeless and irresolute manner unless you shake off this tendency in a firm and determined manner. It is not possible to eat your cake and still have it. Many others have believed in this. All those who do not prove successful in life do not fail also; they are not always regarded as cheats or frauds.
Critical Analysis of the Poem:
Case Study, first published in 1965 in Ezekiel's fourth volume of poems entitled The Unfinished Man is a confessional poem with psychological overtones. It is psychological study of a man who lacks firmness of purpose and is by nature weak willed. He fails to make up his mind about his career or his mission in life. It is a vivid portrait of a wavering, weak - willed and irresolute person who is in the real sense “the unfinished man.” The narrator is a third person who may be the poet himself.
The narrator found that whatever the unfinished man has done “was not quite right.” He had no knowledge of what to do in life. The teachers had never failed in their assessment of their own deeds, but he could not even follow their example. He could not choose a career for himself.
Ought he to practice yoga, study Greek,
Or bluff his way throughout with brazen cheek?
After studying in an ordinary school and at a worthless college, he had had a foolish love affair. Then he patiently tried to build some sort of career for himself but he had not the courage and determination “to climb with quick assault the envied stair.” The knowledge he had attained at the “rotten college” could not be useful and helpful to him. At last, he had resolved to try his hand at politics.
He then felt that “his marriage was the worst mistake of all.” Although he loved his children, he spoiled them with too much love and also with too much of a disciplinary control over them. At last, he felt that he was “damned in that domestic game.”
He worked at various jobs but he could not be successful in any one of them. Then he stopped for looking other jobs. Those who knew him told that he impossible projects which he afterwards abandoned. He was not a man of action. In fact he never moved “unless he found something he might have loved.”
One day he went to the narrator to seek his advice. He advised him to change his purposeless and irresolute behaviour and to use the intelligence he had got. The last stanza is pregnant with a sound moral:
The pattern will remain, unless you break
It with a sudden jerk, but use your head.
not all returned as heroes who had fled
In wanting both to have and eat the cake.
not all who fail are counted with the fake.
In “Case Study” Ezekiel uses the technique of “perspective narration”. The technique of retrospective narration has psychological overtones and undertones.