kamikaze Flashcards
what is the context for Kamikaze ?
- kamikaze pilots flew manned suicide missions into military targets
- apart of Japanese culture during war and was viewed as an honour
- if they do not follow the instructions of a Kamikaze it will distain their whole family
- honour comes before anything else
- Japanese culture was very patriotic
- explores why people are motivated to die for their country
- immense pressure put on families due to the pressure of society
- explores futility of avoiding a fate set out for you by and authority or government
what is the perspective in kamikaze and how does it switch ?
- viewed through eyes of someone left behind, & them trying to understand the motivations of their father, to understand what made him go to war & what mad him come back
- poem from 3rd person perspective, daughter, creates a sense of detachment which reflects the distance the speaker feels from her father
SHIFTS: - 3rd person to 1st person, when the speaker discusses her fathers return acts as the Volta
- dramatic shift from external to internal, shows impact that war has on her
SHIFTS: - final line returns to 3rd person
- ‘he must have wondered which had been the better way to die’
- detached tone is returned at the end to signify that she is detached from the culture which gave him the option of dying as a kamikaze pilot
- alternatively, it could be a desire to detach herself from her father
what is the structure of kamikaze ?
- poem is structured into tightly controlled stanza lengths of 6 lines, reflects order and obedience of a soldier
- structure is juxtaposed by the free verse and enjambment
- attempts of freedom within the conflicts of the strict stanza, structures suggests her father had his own desires and individuality within the constructions put in place by the Japanese government
how is free verse & enjambment used for effect in kamikaze ?
- could should he is starting to doubt his obedience & realized he wants to pursue freedom
- structural juxtaposition also could reflect the conflict between military commitment & cultural pride, & desire for life and freedom
what is the last word on kamikaze and how is it used for effect ?
‘die’
- creates a sense of futility and inevitable fate the soldier was destined to die either way
- reader is also forced to reflect on their own mortality & life which will end the same way
- writer may be suggesting that conflict & patriotism denies humanity the enjoyment of life and nature
‘kamikaze’ & ‘identity’ - Conflict Vs Identity
- conflict between 2 identities, father & soldier, established in the 1st 2 lines
- ‘kamikaze’- establishes his role as a soldier & Japanese suicidal pilot
- ‘her father’- humanizes him and shows that he has a life outside his mission
- contrast between being a kamikaze and a father, shows the reader the conflicting roles of the man
- live with family or die for the country
- sad irony is choosing family means being rejected by them ‘live as though he never returned’
‘her father embarked at sunrise’ - kamikaze - patriotism
- patriotic imagery
- the reader is reminded that Japan is known as the land of the rising
- instead of a new day full of hope, he is likely heading to his death
- ‘embark’- father beginning a new chapter of his life through rejecting his role as a kamikaze pilot
‘like a huge flag’ - kamikaze - patriotism within nature
‘like a huge flag’- fish
- simile, shows that the father and his family are indoctrinated by Japanese culture and societal norms which is why he believes dying is the right thing to do
- illustrates to the reader how patriotism is so powerful it can control how a person acts and how they choose to do
‘feathery prawns’ ‘cloud marked mackerel’ - kamikaze - power of nature
- patriotic soldier shifts to father as he appreciates the beauty of nature & beauty of life & decides to reject death
- ‘cloud marked’, ‘feathery’- adjectives have angelic and heavenly connotations
- suggest that whilst the father has rejected death the concept of it is how to present forever in the family’s life
Theme of ‘those left behind’ - kamikaze
- shift in narrative perspective (Volta)
- narrative changes to her personal experiences of war & its effects
- poem written in 1st person - personal to her & her experiences as those left behind by soldiers going to war
- speaker is experiencing loss when remembering her father as though he died, displays the far reaching effect on multiple generations
- features 4 generations to show the conflict will impact each generation
