Kamikaze Flashcards
Form and Structure:
Form: Mostly Third person until end where it switches to first person. Tight stanzas emphasising strict military discipline.No rhyme scheme emphasising freedom
Structure- Volta Enjambment
Caesura- “But half way there, she thought,recounting….” marks the daughter moments of contemplation
Context:
Kamikaze pilots are Japanese pilots that flew into things to destroy them in suicide missions. It brought dishonour on to the family if these missions weren’t completed as it was seen as betrayal to the emperor.
Themes:
Patriotism,Memory,Society,Nature,Honour
“One way journey into history”
Metaphor for significance of the act and the honour
“Green-blue transleucent sea”
Natural imagery
Highlights the beauty of the world and everything the pilot stands to lose
This helps us to emphasise with the pilots decision to turn back
“A tuna, the dark prince muscular dangerous”
Shows the darker side of the world and forshadows on how the world that the pilot wants to return to has a darker side.
Comparisions:
Poppies
The emigree
“they treated him as though he no longer existed”
A ironic simile for how he survived but is still treated as if hes dead linking back to context.
Theme of the Power of Nature
In Kamikaze, Beatrice Garland presents nature as an irresistible force that overrides human constructs like war and duty. The poem contrasts the cold machinery of conflict with the vibrant, sensory beauty of the natural world—the “green-blue translucent sea”, the “dark prince” tuna—images so powerful they compel the pilot to abandon his mission. Nature’s timeless allure (“the little fishing boats strung out like bunting”) proves stronger than nationalist ideology, its primal pull subverting military control. Through the daughter’s retrospective voice, Garland shows how nature’s influence persists across generations, its power outlasting temporary man-made systems of honour and warfare .Exposure to nature reduces negative emotions and tension. The pilot changes his direction, because nature reminds him of the benefits of living The poem ultimately suggests nature holds a deeper, more enduring authority than any human institution.
Theme of the Effects of Conflict:
In Kamikaze, Beatrice Garland explores the devastating psychological effects of conflict through the pilot’s failed suicide mission and its aftermath. The poem reveals how war fractures identity and relationships, as the pilot who gets rejected by a society that values death over humanity. The daughter’s hesitant narration (“they say…we too learned to be silent”) demonstrates how war’s trauma echoes through generations, forcing families into complicit silence. Ultimately, the poem presents conflict as a cycle of loss that claims victims beyond the battlefield, leaving survivors emotionally stranded between duty and compassion.
Theme of Identity:
In Kamikaze, Beatrice Garland explores the fragmentation of identity caused by the clash between personal morality and societal expectations. The pilot’s identity is torn between his duty as a soldier (symbolized by the “samurai sword” and “powerful incantations”) and his humanity as a father and son, awakened by memories of his fisherman father and the “green-blue translucent sea”. His ultimate rejection of the suicide mission redefines him as a traitor to his nation but a preserver of his own life—a duality captured in the “dark prince” tuna, representing both danger and nobility. The daughter’s narrative voice further complicates his identity: while society ostracizes him (“we too learned to be silent”), her later acknowledgment (“grandfather’s boat”) hints at partial redemption through family. Garland uses free verse and shifting perspectives to mirror this fractured sense of self, ultimately portraying identity as imposed by culture yet reclaimed through individual choice.
Theme of Loss and Absence:
In Kamikaze, Beatrice Garland poignantly explores loss and absence through both physical and emotional dimensions of war. The pilot’s failed mission creates a haunting void—though he returns alive, he becomes a ghost in his own home, met with silence and rejection (“we too learned to be silent”). This emotional absence is more devastating than physical death, as his family mourns not his life but his breach of honor, leaving him “no longer the father we loved.” Garland underscores this loss through natural imagery: the sea’s “green-blue translucent” beauty—once a symbol of life—becomes a reminder of what he cannot reclaim, while the “figure of eight” (∞) mirrors the infinite cycle of his isolation. Even the daughter’s hesitant narration (“he must have wondered”) reveals the generational absence of understanding, as war’s legacy erases dialogue and connection.
Compare the ways poets present conflict in ‘Kamikaze’
and in one other poem from ‘Power and Conflict’.
Both Beatrice Garland’s ‘Kamikaze’ and Simon Armitage’s ‘Remains’ explore the devastating psychological consequences of conflict, challenging traditional notions of heroism and duty. While Garland examines the cultural shame inflicted on a soldier who rejects his suicide mission, Armitage exposes the guilt and dehumanization of a soldier forced to kill. Both poets use personal narratives, vivid imagery, and structural techniques to reveal how war erodes identity and leaves lasting scars.
- Conflict Between Duty and Humanity
In Kamikaze, the pilot’s internal conflict is triggered by memories of his fisherman father and the natural world. The sibilant description of his departure (“sunrise with a flask of water, a samurai sword”) initially frames his mission as noble, but the juxtaposition with the “green-blue translucent sea” undermines this, as nature’s beauty reminds him of life’s value. His rejection of duty (“he must have wondered”) leads to his social death—”no longer the father we loved”—showing how conflict demands absolute loyalty at the cost of humanity.
Similarly, Remains depicts a soldier haunted by the moral conflict of killing a looter. The colloquial, almost dismissive language (“probably armed, possibly not”) contrasts with the graphic plosives (“blood-shadow”), emphasizing his desensitization. Unlike the kamikaze pilot, who disobeys orders, this soldier follows them—yet both are punished: the pilot by ostracism, the soldier by PTSD (“his bloody life in my bloody hands”).
- Imagery of Trauma
Garland uses natural imagery to symbolize the pilot’s lost identity. The “figure of eight” (∞) represents both the infinity of his shame and the cyclical nature of his isolation. The “dark prince” tuna, ambiguous and muscular, mirrors his unheroic but principled choice.
Armitage, meanwhile, employs violent, visceral imagery to convey trauma. The metaphor “blood-shadow” suggests the dead man’s permanent imprint on the soldier’s psyche, while the repetition of “probably” and “possibly” mirrors his fractured mental state. The absence of nature in Remains—replaced by “desert sand” and “wide-open streets”—highlights war’s dehumanizing sterility.
- Structural Techniques
Kamikaze’s shifting perspectives (daughter, pilot, grandchildren) reflect the generational impact of conflict. The free verse and lack of rhyme mirror the pilot’s fragmented identity.
Remains’ enjambment and caesurae (“then I’m home on leave. But I blink”) mimic the soldier’s disjointed memories and panic attacks. The monologue form traps readers in his guilt.
Conclusion
Both poems reveal conflict’s hidden casualties: those who survive but are destroyed psychologically. Garland critiques societal power—how culture weaponizes shame—while Armitage implicates military systems that discard soldiers. Ultimately, Kamikaze asks whether living without honor is worse than dying, while Remains shows how following orders can be equally damning. Together, they expose war’s lose-lose paradox.
