Kamikaze Flashcards
Title
Japanese fighter pilot goes on suicide mission which brings great honour.
How does this link to power and conflict
Conflict between national + cultural expectation (kill himself) and his inner conscience which wants him to return home
Structure
Tight structure - each stanza made up of 6 lines (reflects tight control of military and culture and expectations.
But it’s written in free verse- doesn’t rhyme or contain a regular rhythm and contains enjambment across lines and stanzas
(still chattered and laughed
till gradually we too learn)
This contradicts the tight control. The freedom of expression reflects the freedom the pilot wants to have.
How does the poet present nature
As powerful (the reason the pilot turned back) through Natural imagery
‘Green blue translucent sea’
‘Shoals of fishes flashing silver as their bellies swivelled towards the sun’
‘The tuna, the dark prince, muscular, dangerous’
‘Shoals of fishes flashing - as their - swivelled towards the -‘
‘Shoals of fishes flashing silver as their bellies swivelled towards the sun’
Sibilance creates sense of energy + the natural wonder of the fish.
By reflecting on the beauty of nature the pilot doesn’t want to deprive others of this by completing his mission.
Shows power of nature - makes him turn back.
‘The -, the - prince, -, -.‘
The tuna, the dark prince, muscular, dangerous.’
Adjectives ‘dark’, ‘muscular’, ‘dangerous’ present the tuna in a threatening, intense, powerful image.
The tuna is a representation of how minute and unimportant human life is when contrasted with nature.
Tuna is the most powerful character in this poem.
Poems first ‘.’ appears in this sentence - true power belongs to nature and mans efforts are futile- causes pilot to turn home.
Link between mankind and nature
‘Her father embarked at sunrise’
‘Sunrise’ is a natural image
But the ‘flag of the rising sun’ is the military flag for japan.
Nature vs man.
Repetition of ‘safe’ at the end of 2 lines next to each other in separate stanzas.
Hints at the mindset of pilot
Remembers when he was a child ‘waiting on the shore’ for his fathers safe return from the sea in a boat.
Symbolises the pilot himself wanting to return home to his children.
Pilot remembers how he and his brothers ‘built - of pearl grey pebbles’
‘Built cairns of pearl grey pebbles’
‘Cairns’ pile of stones used as landmarks for graves.
Imagery of death reminds the reader of what’s at steak for the pilot.
imagery of death contrasting with positive imagery
‘Cairns’ ‘Dark’ ‘Black’ ‘Muscular’ ‘Dangerous’ ‘Die’
‘Sunrise’ ‘Bunting’ ‘Safe’ ‘Safe’ ‘Laughed’ ‘Loved’
The mix of positive and negative language reflects the inner conflicts the pilot has between national duty and personal conviction.
Brainwashing of pilot
Fishing boats strung out like ‘bunting’
Noun ‘bunting’ - positive imagery - subconsciously thinking that the sacrifice will be celebrated and honoured.
Therefore ‘bunting’ is a simile for the power of the ‘powerful incantations’
Shows that he’s been brainwashed by patriotic ideas.
‘- fish are in - like a huge -‘
+ pilots mindset throughout the poem.
Noun ‘flag’ of the rising sun
Simile shows the pilots mindset
Looking through a brainwashed lens of national service and pride.
These references reduce towards the end of the poem showing pilot is more convinced that he should turn back.
‘Her - - at sunrise’
‘Her father embarked at sunrise’
‘But halfway there, she thought’
Pronoun ‘Her’ talking about herself in the 3rd person. Distancing herself from her father.
Doesn’t want to associate with him
Reflects shame he brought on family when he returned home.
In 6th verse the narration switches back to first person
‘And though he came back my mother never spoke again in his presence’
‘My’ Shows speaker is pilots daughter Shows the conflict the speaker feels Is ashamed for distancing herself from her father Cultural expectation vs inner conscience
‘- had been the - way to -?‘
‘Which had been the better way to die?’
Treated like he’s dead
Maybe literal death would’ve been better than emotional death he’s experienced since return.
Shows the decision to return home was a kamikaze mission in itself.
Ends the pilots life as he knows it.
