Kamikaze Flashcards
Who wrote Kamikaze?
Beatrice Garland
What is kamikaze about?
Poem opens with a kamikaze pilot, setting of on his mission. They flew planes on suicide missions into enemy ships, it was seen as a way of honouring your country. The pilot turned around and didn’t complete the mission. He was then ignored when he got home.
What’s the context of Kamikaze?
- Poem reflects the immense social pressure brought to bear no the pilots to carry out kamikaze missions as part of japans war effort during ww2.
- prompts the thought suicide missions are part of contemporary conflicts.
- Seppuku
What verb creates a sense of a journey that links with the title to suggest it will be a journey to his death?
“Her father embarked”
What does “sunrise” imply?
Japan is known as the land of the rising sun so this may be a reference to the location
What phrase suggests that the pilot was under a kind of spell, which hints at the influence of patriotic propaganda that kamikazes were exposed to?
“full of powerful incantations”
What word in the second stanza acts as a volta, suggesting that the plane is still flying but its going to turn around?
“but half way there”
What does “she thought” show?
It shows that these are his daughters thoughts and explanations, the pilot has no voice and his real reasons are never heard”
What simile is homely and pretty and uses bunting which is associated with celebration which makes the image ironic as there’s no victorious return for the pilot?
“strung out like bunting”
What quotation is ironic that the pilot should have been aiming for big enemy ships but a smaller one catches his eye?
“at the little fishing boats”
What quotations shows a beautiful image of nature?
“on a green-blue translucent sea”
What quotation uses flags to symbolise a national identity but also uses a simile to hint at the way flags can be used to stop/direct something?
“like a huge flag waved first one way”
What do the repeated sibilant sounds show? “shoals” “swilled” “sun”
they reflect the smooth movement of the fish in the water
what does “flashing silver” suggest?
This hints at the movement of the samurai sword. It’s an ironic reference, because the pilot is turning away from combat
What phrase switches the focus to the pilot’s childhood memories? paralepsis
“and he remembered how he”
What quotations shows how innocent childhood activities contrasts with the pilot’s job in the war?
“built cairns of pearl-grey pebbles”
What does the enjambment and lack of punctuation suggest?
It may hint that the pilot got caught up in childhood memories
What does the repetition of “safe” hint at?
It hints at the pilot’s mind-set. he doesn’t want his children to go through the pain of losing him.
What quotations shoes an interjection of direct speech, which sounds like the pilot’s daughter is answering a question from her children?
“yes, grandfathers boat”
What does the cumulative effect of the list of the sea creatures suggest?
it highlights their beauty and significance to the pilot
What does the full stop at the end of stanza 5 show?
It is the first full stop in the poem, it signals the end of the flight- this should have ended in death but the pilot returns home
What does “and though he came back” show?
The daughter uses direct speech again, hinting at her pain and her empathy with him
What quotation uses irony as it shows he survived but he is still treated as if he’s dead? (extended metaphor)
“they treated him as though he no longer existed”
What quotation shows that the pilot was changed by his experience?
“Was no longer the father we loved”
What is the final line, which could be a comment on the destructiveness of patriotism?
“he must have wondered which had been the better way to die”
What is the structure of this poem?
- third person (emphasises distance between dad and daughter)
- regular syllabic pattern
- narrative
Which poem should you compare kamikaze with?
Poppies for memory or the prelude for nature
