The curiosity manifested by children
The poem is addressed to children and thus its language is relatively easy to understand. Graves addresses an unnamed audience who are curious to find what secret lies in the ‘’fruit’’ hidden in the island described by the poet. According to him, the only people who are interested in finding the secret of the island are the children he addresses. Graves talks about the innate curiosity every child has and how that curiosity pushes a child to try and discover secrets a grown-up would not be interested in. while the secret is never revealed, the reader is left with the impression that for the children seeking to find it, it doesn’t even matter what it lies beneath the layers described the author. Instead, what it matters for them is the journey they have to take to discover the hidden secret.
A strong pull
Another theme in the poem is the idea that the children can’t stop themselves from uniting the string and from finding the secret. The children all feel a completing need to untie and discover the hidden things and no one and nothing can stop from trying to find the truth. While one would be inclined to think that this is a beneficial characteristic, the author points out that this is not always the case. Sometimes, discovering a secret can have dire consequences and can do more damage than good.
Difference between childhood and adulthood
In the poem there are two separate points of view regarding the string and about the question if someone should or should not untie the string and discover the secret. The children all seem eager to untie the string and to discover the secrets it hides but the poet, an adult, gets scared and towards the end of the poem tries to stop the children from untying the string. This attitude proves that children are more likely to want to learn new things and to take bigger risks while adults prefer to stay in a zone of relative safety. For them, everyone who doesn’t conform to the norms they set is seen as a threat and as a way of protecting themselves they may try to stop other from behaving and acting in a different way.
