Carol Ann Duffy’s poem, “The Dolphins” is in a form of dramatic monologue, narrated from a dolphin’s point of view. By making the dolphin a speaker and revealing its feelings and emotions, we the readers, get to understand the cruelty imposed on animals. The dolphins are taken away from their natural habitat and forced to live in the man-made pool. By narrating their miserable plight and how they are being denied of their freedom, through the help of dramatic monologue, it sends a strong message to the readers to stop using animals for our own selfish motives.

The significance of using dramatic monologue is that it reveals the speaker’s character and temperament. We get to see the world from the narrator’s perspective and experience the grief or happiness the speaker is feeling.

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The dolphins in this poem show how humans trap and confine animals like them for their own greed. Animals are taken away from their natural habitat and forced into enslavement. The dolphins are suffering yet their pleas are in vain. Humans, who themselves are caught in the confines of the world, believe they have a right over other animals. Animals like the dolphins here are captured and forced to perform tricks till the “man” is satisfied. Their emotions are not taken into consideration and they are denied of their freedom.

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This poem serves as a waking call for all the humans to take proper care of the animals and not use them for monetary gain. The poet urges humans to empathize with animals, like the dolphins here, and understand the misery they face while being trapped in a confined environment. Animal rights are being violated by forcing them into enslavement. Animals should be protected at all costs and not forced to suffer due to the inhuman acts of human beings.

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The poem ends with the miserable dolphins accepting their fate. They reminisce about the time spent under the sun, out on the ocean but now they are confined to the limits of the pool. They have to follow all the orders of a man and the dolphins, in turn, have mentally prepared the fact that “we will die here.”

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The play of the contrast is important in the poem, “The Dolphins”, in order to show the sufferings the dolphins are facing under the control of humans. The poem starts with the dolphin saying how happy they all are when they are in their element but this time, despite being in their element-water, they are not happy. The dolphins are trapped in a man-made pool. The poem then proceeds in a series of flashbacks with comparison to the present times. The dolphin reminisce the times when all of them were out under the sun on the ocean and swimming to their heart’s content. But in the present time, the dolphins are confined to the limits of the pool and a man who is controlling them. These contrasts highlight the plight of the dolphins that are exploited by the humans for their own greed.

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