Kamikaze Flashcards
Themes (6)
- Power of nature
- Effects of conflict: Charge of the light brigade: representation of war/battles, Bayonet charge: representation of a different type of war – one is mental, honour, patriotic – the other is physical
- Loss and absence
- Memory
- Identity
• Individual experiences: Poppies: 2 different viewpoints of war
About
A daughter reflects on the stories and speculations as to why her father turned back from a suicide mission in WWII. When he returns he is ignored out of shame.
Big ideas (4)
- Conflict – for the father between “honour”, Japanese culture and the will to survive for his family
- Decisions – father’s decisions – to die through honourable suicide or live to be outlawed by society
- Fate/destiny – futility of trying to avoid your own fate/destiny
- Patriotism – opening stanza suggests patriotic pride and duty; the pilot has the chance to fly “into history”. The patriotism of his family is shown when he returns and they isolate him.
“powerful incantations”, “one way journey into history”
Identity, Effects of conflict
“Powerful incantations” Prayers, under a spell, tradition and Japanese culture had such strong mental control over the people, bewitched possibly by propaganda of an extreme bias, powerfully convinced, manipulation, only believed that that was his role as a citizen
“One-way journey” sure of death, no other way out, until he broke these laws
“into history” – shows the honour surrounding this act, patriotism and pride of the highest level, treated with respect, remembered, legacy
“little fishing boats strung out like bunting on a green-blue translucent sea”
Power of nature, Memory
“Little” – innocence, vulnerability, “Fishing boats” – Japan is famous for fishing, shows aerial view from plane
Makes the natural world seem attractive and wonderful, sense that life is precious
“Bunting” – used in celebration, like a celebration of the natural world and of life
“green-blue translucent” – beauty of nature, colour imagery reflects calm (blue) and safety (green)
“fishes flashing silver as their bellies swivelled towards the sun”
Power of Nature, Memory
“Silver” – valuable metal, life is valuable, rare, should be treasured
“Swivelled towards the sun” – highlights joy of the natural world, moving towards the light = life
Alliteration makes it more memorable
“Sun” – positive, joyous, direct contrast to what should be a flight to death
“brothers waiting on the shore”, “their father’s boat safe”, “grandfather’s boat - safe”
Memory, Loss and absence, Identity
Remembering childhood, family, nostalgic
“safe” and repetition of “safe” – irony, he is going to die so he is unsafe and so are the American soldiers but his father is safe as he wishes but he leaves behind his children
His father returns which brings him comfort as he wishes him to be safe
“safe” – repetition, reinforced, desire, reason to live – hints at a change of mind and different desire
Grandfather is safe - Some people just want a simple life, came from a simple life, and that is all he needs for satisfaction, not everyone wanted to be an honoured kamikaze pilot
“they treated him as if he no longer existed”
Loss and absence, Effect of conflict
He failed to fulfil and ‘honour’ and has dishonoured himself and as a consequence he is treated as an outcast
He is ignored and isolated from society, “neighbours too” shows the widespread reaction
“no longer existed” – as if he actually succeeded and died
“they” suggests she was not on board, it is not natural to ignore her father, she still sees him as a loved one
“only we children still chattered and laughed”, “till gradually we too learned to be silent”
Effect of conflict, Loss and absence
“we children” – innocence, not on board with the hatred, she belongs those that don’t outlaw her father “we”
Initially children don’t understand the tradition and ways of society but over time they learn
“learned to be silent” – not natural reaction, wanted to be happy to see him again, “silent” – no communication, forced upon them to isolate him, she saw her father as a parent not a warrior to a cause
“And sometimes, she said, he must have wondered which had been the better way to die”
Memory, Loss and absence, Effect of conflict
He could have died physically and been honoured and respected but instead was perceived as dead emotionally and was dishonoured as an outcast.
No social contact renders life meaningless, die = a hero, or live = an outcasted life
Ironic: returned for his family “brothers” but they treated him as if he had died anyway – sadness, sympathy
Short sentence comments on the destructiveness of patriotism
Structure (9)
- 7 unrhymed stanzas roughly equal lengths, shows events of his flight as the daughter imagines it in first 5 stanzas. The sentence ends in stanza 5 to convey a long journey turning away from death, back to life. The final two stanzas focus on the consequences of these actions ending on a sad note.
- There is a range of tones: stanza 1: factual, use of lists, stanza 2-5: serene, recounting the journey, stanza 6-7: father’s daughter’s words or memory, ending in a reflective, speculative tone
- Narrative voice in 3rd person creates distance from the truth and increases the mystery surrounding the father’s decision, Free verse, natural way of speech, storytelling.
- Comments said by the mother (father’s daughter) are in italics showing recollection or memory of what happened after her father returned
- Only composed of 3 sentences with 3 full stops possibly reflecting how the poem is told orally
- Absence of the pilot’s voice could represent how he was cut off from society so no-one every got to hear his truth about the journey and decision
- “that this was no longer the father we loved” suggests they found it difficult to accept the change as
- Direct quotations of the daughter add emphasis to her feelings
- Enjambment symbolises the conflict between the father and his duty, although he tries to go against tradition the poem suggests he can’t break his fate and will die one way or another – physically or socially. Also adds to the sense of mystery as lines run into each other and thoughts overlap.
Context (5)
- Kamikaze pilots were specially trained Japanese pilots who were used to fight America towards the end of WWII, flew their planes on suicide (considered honourable) missions into enemy ships
- It becomes clear that the pilot turns around and fails his mission – his daughter imagines this was because on the way there he saw the beauty of nature and remembered his innocent childhood
- He was shunned when he got home – even by his own family as they were ashamed of him.
- The poem is written both from a narrator and the daughter of the pilot as the speaker. The narrator explains the events – almost as a translator – while the speaker gives a first-person account of how they excluded her father.
- The poet questions at the end which death would have been better – to die as a kamikaze pilot young or to grow old with a family who shut you off.
