Heaney paper ideas

Heaney writes during one of Ireland’s most tumultuous times. In “Digging” he starts by initially differentiating himself from his father’s generation. The narrator likens the pen he writes with to a gun. A very powerful image when read and published in a country filled with warring men and mixed ideals. Heaney thinks of writing as his equivalent to digging for potatoes. His words will bring nourishment to his family (the people on his side) and sustain them through the tough times.

Toughness is also an image drawn upon in “The Forge” where “a door into the dark” leads to an environment that forges metals together. Heaney’s one line, “He leans out on the jamb, recalls a clatter/Of hoofs where traffic is flashing in rows” not only shows us that the outside world will always be right behind those doors, but also that constant chatter from the opposing side will always try to break in and taint the efforts of the hard workers. The poem describes a centered anvil that is like an altar to the forger. The meeting-in-the-middle concept is important and must be reached if Ireland is ever going to unify against the English and their oppressive demands. Forging poeple together can only happen though if hard labor is employed "to beat real iron out, to work the bellows." 
Another poem that connects to these two is "Follower," in which a young boy recounts his childhood of trailing behind his father as he labors in the barn, yet another image of work. All three of these poems are concerned with the motif of hard labor, potentially harking back Ireland's dark past of being enslaved for and by the British. But in "Follower," the boy recalls that he was a nuisance for his father in his childhood and then notes that now in his adulthood  notes that "It is my father who keeps stumbling/Behind me, and will not go away. " The role reversal is clear and now it seems that Ireland's past is getting in the way of its future, slowing it down from the progress it could be making.