Kamikaze Flashcards
(6 cards)
context
Garland includes John Donne, John Clare and Seamus Heaney as some of her writing inspirations,
and has won prizes for her poetry. When writing the poem Kamikaze, she was inspired into looking
into the motivations as to why people wanted to die for their country.
Kamikaze Pilots
During WWII, Japanese kamikaze pilots flew manned suicide missions into military targets (e.g.
ships), using planes filled with explosives. Soldiers and pilots were taught it was the only way to
change the direction of the war (Japan losing), and they had to take part in this last resort. Very
well trained pilots would volunteer to die, but towards the end of the war the military would have to
recruit people and shun those who refuse.
” embarked at sunrise “
Japan is known as the
land of the rising sun.
Embark means to get on
but also to begin
something – he is
beginning a new chapter
of his life – both choices
lead to a type of death
” full of powerful incantations “
suggests that the pilot was under a spell and was indoctrinated by patriotic propaganda. The incantations are like spells or affirmations that the pilot repeated to himself to help him complete the kamikaze mission.
s under the spell of
patriotism and propaganda
Not making his own
decisions – his decision
would be to keep living
” green-blue
translucent sea “
Connotations of peace and
tranquillity in the colour
imagery. Doesn’t want to
deny himself – nor those
he will kill – the beauty of
nature and the beauty of
life. Associating nature
with precious possessions
” he must have
wondered
which had been the better way to die. “
Both options offer a kind
of death and this line
implies that soldiers are
controlled by
indoctrination and
propaganda, and used as
tools of the government.
Written in a detached
third-person viewpoint
which might suggest the
speaker doesn’t agree
with this cultural view.
Structure
The shift in narration from third person to first person when the speaker discusses her father’s
return acts as the volta.
was no longer the father we loved.
And sometimes, she said, he must have wondered
which had been the better way to die.
This signifies a dramatic shift from external to internal and
shows the impact that war has had on her. This is a personal
moment and memory, so deserves a personal and subjective
perspective
Garland selects the word “die” as the last word of the poem, which creates a sense of futility and
inevitable fate: the soldier was destined to die one way or another. The reader is also forced to
reflect on their own mortality and life which will end
the same way as the soldiers. I
