A Complete Turnaround Sharon Old’s poem, “The Victims,” deals with an underlying theme of abuse. Old’s illustrates this theme through the tone of the poem, which is achieved by imagistic language, rhyme and rhythm. In this poem the speaker is illustrated through two points of view, first as a child then as an adult reflecting back on a troublesome childhood experience. As the speaker’s point of view changes so does the use of poetic devices. The poem opens with the speaker remembering the behaviors of an abusive father when she was a child. The tone at this point was one of disgust, hatred, spite, and taking joy in her father’s fa