Jessie Cameron Could Be Seen Simply As A Murder Mystery. Agree or Disagree?

In this lesson, we wrote a detailed plan for whether we agree or disagree with the idea that Jessie Cameron could be seen simply as a murder mystery.

Agree

We're told the two definitely die, due to people searching for their 'bodies', not them, insinuating death. However, we do not know how they died. The omniscient, all knowing narrator doesn't even know how they died. This adds mystery, furthering the idea that the poem is a murder mystery.

Jessie and the neighbour's son have an argument or disagreement, which escalates throughout the poem - 'and louder waxed his urgent speech'. This could have escalated to violence with neither standing down. 'The sea crept' - the rising sea symbolises increasing confrontation. 'Moaning' of the sea foreshadows something bad, possibly one of the character's murder?

The stanza starting with 'some say' shows their is mystery surrounding the two, adding to mystery.

Disagree

It is a ghost story, not a murder mystery due to the supernatural descriptions such as 'sobs and screams, but not a word'.

It is a feminist poem over a murder mystery. Jessie is named, unlike the man, giving an identity to the woman. Jessie declines the man's offer -'I'm no mate for you' - shows a woman standing up for herself and being strong. Men are not controlling women.

It is about the awesome power of the sea instead. The sea is personified as 'moaning', giving the sea an importance and relevance in the poem. The 'moaning' shows that the sea knows something bad is going to happen yet there is nothing the pair can do to escape it. The sea is powerful and humans cannot escape it.