War Photographer key quotes Flashcards
rhyme scheme
ABBCDD- it is a start contrast to the violence and chaos that the poem is describing. this could mirror what the Photographer does as his job, he is attempting to impose order on chaos
his hands which did not tremble then/ though seem to now
enjambment appears just as the Photographer starts to become overwhelmed with emotion. the way the lined become disorganised could reflect his distress
the cries/ f this man’s wife, how he ought approval
the caesura breaks the rhythm of the line and makes it disjointed. This could reflect the emotions he experiences as he remembers taking a photograph[h of a dying man
as though this was a church and he / a priest preparing to intone a mass
this simile compares the photographer developing his photos to a priest conducting a ceremony- Mass is a ceremony associated with the death of Jesus on the cross so this simile could emphasise the theme of suffering.
a half- formed ghost
this metaphor describes a man who is likely now dead. ghost suggests that he is now dead and that the photograph is a kind of afterlife for him. half formed suggests that the photographer is uncertain about his fate.
the reader’s eyeballs prick/ with teas between the bath and the pre-lunch beers
this juxtaposition shows how little people in the west can relate to the suffering of those in war zones. the imagery of comfort is in contrast with the extremely violent images we have been exposed to earlier in the poem
from the aeroplane he stares impassively at where/ he earns his living and they do not care
the poem ends of an evocative pair of lines as the photographer expresses his contempt for his fellow Englishmen as he flies back to the war zone. the final phrase ‘they do not care’ is a bleak ending about how people in England lack empathy for those abroad.
