Kamikazee Flashcards
Patriotic imagery
“Her father embarked at sunrise” a reminder that Japan is the land of the rising sun. Except instead of this being a new day full of hope he is potentially heading toward his death.
The speaker also sees patriotism in Nature such as the fish which are like a “huge flag” this 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. This illustrates to the reader how patriotism is powerful and it can control how a person acts and how they choose to die
Shift from Patriotic soldier to father
He appreciates the beauty of nature and the beauty of life and decides to reject death. He is reminded of how is father provided “feathery prawns” and “cloud marked mackerel” and he is provided a sense of duty to his family to provide food to his family. However,as can be inferred from the angelic and heavenly connotations of these word choices, his duty according to society was to provide his family with honour not sustenance which can only be achieved through death
“A shaven head full of powerful incantations”
Under the spell of patriotism and propaganda
Not making his own decisions
One way- journey into history
Painful irony to his search for remembrance Sought to be remembered through death and immortalised by respect
“He must have”
Speculative
She never new her father because he was dead to her the moment he returned
Use of pronoun He also suggests she is attempting to create distance between father and kamikaze pilot separating her dad from the person who couldn’t complete his mission
“Bunting”
“Little fishing boats”
A reminder of the celebration of honour his death will bring to his community
Also a reminder to him of everything there is to cherish and celebrate in life
The fishing boats are also a symbol of staying a float so reflect his instincts of staying alive
“Green blue translucent sea”
Connotations of Peace and tranquility
He does not want to deny himself nor those he will kill the beauty of nature and the beauty of life
The shoals of fish movie in a “figure of eight”
A symbol used for infinity. This may be used to imply the eternal nature of nature which will continue indefinitely in spite of the transiency of humanity: war and honour will be forgotten but nature will remain as it is more powerful than mankind
“Shoals of silver fishes flashing silver as their bellies swivelled toward the sun
Sibilance implies a sense of grace and elegance and peace
The soldier is also inspired by these fish who despite under the threat of being eaten by the tuna are able to enjoy the life they have
“Pearl grey pebbles”
Natures beauty is precious and valuable. Life is valuable and sacred so shouldn’t be ended prematurely.
“A tuna, the dark prince, muscular, dangerous”
Imbalance of power between humanity and nature. Even a Kamikazee pilot- the epitome of bravery- sense the danger of it.
The metaphore of a fish shows how it is important and signs deserving respect and honour. This is emphasised with the use of a full stop (the first use of punctuation in the poem) to signal that it is deserving notice
“And though he came back…”
“Nor did she meet his eyes”
“Live as though he never returned”
The eyes are the window to his soul. She is ashamed of who he is doesn’t want to communicate with him.
The whole poem is speculative and discusses 4 generations showing the far reaching lasting impact of war.
“And the neighbours too”
Polysendeton everyone treated him this way; he was shunned Completely
“Which had been a better way to die”
Return to third person. Detached tone from the start of the poem returns to signify she is detached from the culture that encouraged him to die or she is detached from her father who bought dishonour on the family. Also by choosing to end the poem with the word Die signifies futility and mortality and inevitable fate.
