war photographer Flashcards
what is it about
A war photographer contemplates his job whilst developing their photos. He realises that the public does not care about the issues they are trying to shed light on.
context on author
Duffy was the UK’s Poet Laureate from 2009 to 2019. She is friends with two famous war photographers hence why she is interested in the difficulties and responsibilities posed by their role
significance of the time that it was written
The poem was published in 1985, ten years after the end of the Vietnam war. A contemporary reader would be aware that the line “running children in a nightmare heat” is a reference to a famous photo of a girl in a napalm attack. That photo did however, have a large impact on the public who protested and campaigned against the war. This contrasts with society today in which war photography is largely ignored.
structure
Duffy uses a tight form of six lines per stanza as well as a constant ABBCDD rhyme scheme. This rigidity of the form is at odds with the chaos caused by conflict and perhaps reflects the order of “rural England”. As this structure does not change throughout, it can be interpreted that war photographers lack the power to change anything as his work falls upon an unreceptive audience. The structure also reflects the meticulous way in which the photographer works, as he places his photos into “ordered rows”. His sombre, careful ritual is perhaps his way of trying to maintain a sense of normality or attempting to control his thoughts, emotions and memories, which perhaps threaten to overwhelm him (his hands “tremble” in anticipation of what will be revealed and therefore relived).
The poem ends by describing the photographer returning to the warzone he came from on “the aeroplane”. This cyclical structure creates a sense of futile repetition and continuation of past mistakes and acts as evidence that the photographer’s work has not changed anything, leaving the listener with his realisation “he stares impassively at where he earns his living and they do not care”. In this way, the poem ends on a defeated note.
main idea 1
being desensitised
‘solutions slop in trays’
detachment
emtional detachment
sibilance
main idea 2
trauma
‘a strangers features twist before his eyes’ = ‘a half formed ghost’
The painful connotations of “twist” in “a stranger’s features…twist before his eyes” shows the pain the images capture as well as the painful memories they induce in the photographer. His role allows him to preserve the memory of those who have died; which is reflected in the paradoxical metaphor “half formed ghost
‘twist’ delusions, allusions, internal conflict
main idea 3
- supplying, being a tool, job, emotionless job
suffering from an identity crisis
‘as though this were a church and he a priest preparing to intone a mass’
‘he has a job to do’
‘as though this were a church and he a priest preparing to intone a mass’
feeling guilt for what he is doing, trying not to acknowledge the severity of his actions
His struggle is further shown in the simile that compares him to “a priest preparing to impart a mass” as if like a priest connecting humanity to God, the photographer is duty-bound to connect people at home to those suffering in a war
There is a juxtaposition throughout the poem between lexis from the semantic field of violence and religious imagery to suggest that people are not doing enough to prevent war. The photographer is compared to “a priest preparing to impart mass” which reminds the listener of the Christian value of peace but is in opposition to the descriptions of violence also featured in the poem. This implies that people are hypocritical because in theory they are against violence but are doing nothing to stop it when it is actually occurring.
