Poppies Flashcards
‘Poppies have already been place
individual war graves’
Poppies’ reminds us that blood was spilt in war, hence the colour symbolism of the poppies’ redness.
Juxtaposition between private and public- ‘individual war graves’ represent single soldiers, but the cemetery itself represents a whole generation loss
‘crimped petals’
Suggests a damaged poppy, implying that war damages people, whether that be a fallen soldier or grieving family member.
Also links to the theme of death. The damaged poppy is representing withering and dying flowers, like remains of funeral wreaths or those place on war graves.
‘smoothed down your shirt’s upturned collar’
him, smooth his clothes, as a little boy, whether he is a soldier leaving home to fight or whether he has already been killed and he is lying in a coffin.
‘Smooth’ is onomatopoeic, has long double-vowels and reflects its meaning.
‘Upturned’ could symbolise how family life has been disrupted or ‘turned upside down’ by war.
‘I resisted the impulse to run my fingers through the gelled blackthorns of your hair’
Use of hair gel suggests that she’s casting her mind forward to an older boy who’s less childish. This is where he’s about to leave for battle and she wants to hold him while she still can.
‘Blackthorns’-religious connotations- it represents Jesus’ crown of thorns – this woman believes her son is being metaphorically ‘crucified’ unjustly by leaving for battle at young age. May also represent barbed wire used to protect trenches in WW1
‘as I walked with you, to the front door’
Door to house opens on dangerous world outside, ‘door’ is a metaphor ,representing ‘front-line’ of battle as well as route to her heart.
Walks with him because she can’t leave him; compelled to follow him everywhere, as he is still a child in her mind. Usual with most mothers when son or daughter leaves home, but he’s putting his life in danger. She’s clinging to what may be her last moments with him, as she visualises his death. At the door, she has to part with him as he moves forward to his future.
