Content Flashcards
what happens in stanza 1 and 2
The poem opens with a kamikaze pilot setting off on his mission.
Kamikaze pilots were trained Japanese pilots , with Bushido to act
as a propaganda tool which is symbolised by the samurai reference
in the opening. The daughter seems to recount the journey and
what he would have seen ‐ he has no voice.
Stanza 3 and 4
It seems that the pilot’s doubts regarding his mission become
apparent in this section since his daughter imagines that he has seen the beauty of nature and the world below and this has caused him to think back on his childhood memories of fishing with his
father.
Stanza 5
The italicised line symbolises an interjection of direct speech‐ it
seems as though the daughter is answering question from her own
children. Again the stanza deals with the beauty of nature and the
pilot’s appreciation of this, but we have the first full stop at the end
of the stanza which signals the end of the flight which should have
ended in death rather than returning home to his family.
stanza 6
We hear the daughter’s speech which becomes much more factual,
less descriptive way about her father’s subsequent life, which does
seem to hint at her pain and empathy with him. It introduces the
irony of his life in that he survived but he is still treated as if he is
dead due to the dishonour he has brought upon himself.
stanza 7
The end of the poem sows that they treat the father like he is dead
since they are so ashamed. The poet at the end questions which
death would have been better, to die as a kamikaze pilot young or
to grow old with a family who shut you out due to your dishonour.
