Kamikaze - Beatrice Garland

Question 1

STRUCTURE

Answer 1

• Regular syllable patterns; drifting up and down in length.
• Gives the poem a tone of nostalgia.
• Represents the rhythm of waves which can represent a helplessness; whatever he does, he will still ‘die’ in one way or another.
• The use of asides and calm rural language juxtaposes the setting of war, giving the poem a much more personal scope on a major event.

Question 2

CONTEXT

Answer 2

• Set during the Second World War.
• Japanese kamikaze pilots were expected to use up all their weapons and then suicide by flying into their targets as a final act of destruction.
• It was considered a great honour in Japan to die for your country.
• The pilot in this poem returns home and is rejected by his family forever after.

Question 3

AUTHOR

Answer 3

Beatrice Garland

Question 4

KEY IDEAS

Answer 4

• The poem contrasts the narrator and daughter’s voices in order to build a more personal and human tone to the poem as well as the pilot’s story.
• The poem explores the futility of trying to avoid one’s own origins and roots, be it natural or man made.
• The use of rural fishing imagery contrasts the war based context and links the pilot to the fish; inevitably caught and subject to fate.

Question 5

KEY QUOTES

Answer 5

“her father embarked at sunrise”
“halfway there, she thought, recounting it later to her children”
“[flag waving] in a figure of eight”
“safe to the shore, salt-sodden”
“he must have wondered which had been the better way to die”

Question 6

Analysis - “Her father embarked at sunrise”

Answer 6

• Opening line of the poem.
• Imagery; we are immediately being told a story.
• Context: Japan was also known as ‘the land of the rising sun’, linking the pilot to his culture and duty from the beginning.

Question 7

Analysis - “half way there, she thought, recounting it later to her children”

Answer 7

• Aside.
• Used to give a sense of individualism to this nameless pilot.
• Introduces a relaxed tone to the piece, juxtaposes the conflict of the context.

Question 8

Analysis - “[flag waving] in a figure of eight”

Answer 8

• Symbolic; figure of 8 ∞ the infinity symbol
• Repetitive cycle of pilots going off to die
• The pilot feels trapped by his destiny.

Question 9

Analysis - “safe to the shore, salt-sodden”

Answer 9

• Sibilance.
• Mimics the sound of waves in the ocean.
• Symbolic of the tide, like the pilot, which returns.

Question 10

Analysis - “he must have wondered which had been the better way to die”

Answer 10

• Highlights inner conflict.
• Emphasises that he died in the eyes of his family.
• There is a tone of regret and sympathy at his situation; he had no way out.