war photographer Flashcards
“in his dark room he is finally alone”
The word “dark” has connotations of fear, death and suffering which is connected to the wars that he covers as part of his job
the word choice of “finally” suggests that he has been eager for this moment. One reason for this is that he is now finally able to see if he has managed to capture any powerful images. However the word is followed by “Alone” which highlights the unusual nature of his job and perhaps his personality as most human beings avoid being isolated whereas he seems to welcome being cut off from others
With spools of suffering set out in ordered rows
The alliteration draws our attention to the words spools and suffering linking the ideas that his work is directly linked to pain caused by the war
The way that the spools of film are set out in ordered rows conjures up images of war cemeteries in which headstones are laid out in neat and regular rows. This also helps create an impression of the photographers personality- he s clearly methodical and professional in his work. In another sense the way he sets out the spools could also connect to the idea of trying to impose order in the chaos of war
and how blood stained into foreign dust
The word choice of dust has connotations. In genesis 3:19 it is claimed that “Dust thou art and unto dust shalt thou return” Therefore dust has come to symbolise the frailty of life and is also associated with graves and death. This connects to how soil in this foreign war zone has been turned into a mass grave due to the levels of death and destruction
The wordchoice of stained has connotations of corruption and damaging something irreparably due to the loss of innocence experienced in war, as well as the fact that it leaves a legacy that, like a stain, is difficult to erase
The readers eyeballs prick with tears between the bath and pre-lunch beers
Duffy extends the indifferent and uncaring response demonstrated by the editor to include us, the readers of the newspaper, intentionally creating a sense of bathos when describing how our eyeballs prick with tears as we see the images but we still go on with our typical weekend routine and socialise with friend.
The word choice of prick suggests a momentary feeling of pain which highlights how we have an emotional response to the images but it does not last very long. In addition, this again suggests that despite the photographers worthy ambitions to provoke a response to war and perhaps change the world, the audience for his work is not really affected fir a long lasting or profound manner by what he shows them
