Exposure Flashcards
Our brains ache in the merciless iced east winds that knife us
Personification: the wind is given violent/hostile characteristics
Imagery: conveys the extreme suffering the soldiers are enduring physically and mentally
All their eyes are ice
Metaphor: represents the loss off humanity and the emotional numbness caused by the horrors of war
The image reinforces the dehumanisation of soldiers during war
But nothing happens
The repetition symbolises the pointlessness of war where the soldiers suffering is prolonged
Repeated throughout the poem conveys the hopelessness that the soldiers are waiting for something to happen
The night is silent
The silence of the night offers temporary peace yet the soldiers are still vulnerable to death and violence at any moment.
The silence could also represent the emotional isolation of the soldiers who feel abandoned by their leaders and society
