Beatrice Garland Quick context Kamikaze pilots were Japanese volunteers who offered to give their lives to destroy the enemy in short a WW2 suicide bomber Soldiers Kamikaze Pilots oath ID: 577918
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Slide1
‘Kamikaze’
Beatrice GarlandSlide2
Quick context
Kamikaze pilots were Japanese volunteers who offered to give their lives to destroy the enemy (in short a WW2 suicide bomber). Slide3
Soldier’s / Kamikaze Pilot’s oath
1. A soldier must make loyalty his obligation.2. A soldier must make propriety his way of life.3. A soldier must highly esteem military valour.4. A soldier must have a high regard for righteousness.5. A soldier must live a simple life.It is an ancient Samurai ritual to commit suicide if you dishonoured yourself or your country – this is called Seppuku. Seppuku involved taking a knife or sword and stabbing yourself in the stomach, disembowelling yourself in the process. (This occurred in WW2, soldiers would rather kill themselves than be captured if the battle was lost)Slide4
Her father embarked at sunrisewith a flask of water, a samurai sword
in the cockpit, a shaven headfull of powerful incantationsand enough fuel for a one-wayjourney into historyAlmost sounds pleasant / sense of achievement and pride at making history
Why a sword and not a gun?
Double meaning –
gets on a plane / going on an adventure
What is the significance of the noun “incantations”?
Implies death
Soldiers shaved their heads as part of a ritual to demonstrate their readiness as well as remaining dignified, even in death. Slide5
but half way there, she thought,recounting it later to her children,he must have looked far down
at the little fishing boatsstrung out like buntingon a green-blue translucent seaKQ: How does the poet approach the themes of power, conflict and death?What is significant about this word?Who is the narrator?
What poetic technique is used? What is the effect?
Why is the modal verb, “must” used?Slide6
and beneath them, arcing in swatheslike a huge flag waved first one waythen the other in a figure of eight,the
dark shoals of fishesflashing silver as their belliesswivelled towards the sunWhy is the motion of swivelling important here?Poetic technique?When might a flag be waved?
Why is the pilot bothered about the fish?
The repetition of ‘s’ and ‘f’ sounds create pace and could mimic the motion of the aircraft
.Slide7
and remembered how heand his brothers waiting on the shorebuilt cairns
of pearl-grey pebblesto see whose withstood longestthe turbulent inrush of breakersbringing their father’s boat safeKQ: How does the poet approach the themes of power, conflict and death?Cairns – pile of stones/pebbles that acts as a memorial or marker (safety/direction for walkers)
Extended metaphor, what do the “turbulent” waves represent? (Think conflict)
Returning home safely? Not applicable for this soldier.
Why is it important that that this part is identified as a memory?
Why does the poet choose to omit punctuation from this stanza?Slide8
– yes, grandfather’s boat – safe
to the shore, salt-sodden, awashwith cloud-marked mackerel,black crabs, feathery prawns,the loose silver of whitebait and oncea tuna, the dark prince, muscular, dangerous.KQ: How does the poet approach the themes of power, conflict and death?
Why is this in italics? What is it talking about?
Sibilance gives the effect of being read like a nursery rhyme – why is this significant?
How does this stanza link to the theme of conflict?
Unpredictable? How does this relate to the pilot?
Alone, removed from the rest of the group.
Why does the narrator highlight the natural beauty witnessed by the pilot? Slide9
And though he came backmy mother never spoke againin his presence, nor did she meet his eyesand the neighbours too, they treated him
as though he no longer existed,only we children still chattered and laughedKQ: How does the poet approach the themes of power, conflict and death?Why are most of the last two stanzas in italics?What does the “And though” reveal?
Why is it only the children will talk to the pilot?
What is the conflict in this chapter?
How does this stanza link to the theme of power?Slide10
till gradually we too learnedto be silent, to live as thoughhe had never returned, that thiswas no longer the father we loved.
And sometimes, she said, he must have wonderedwhich had been the better way to die.KQ: How does the poet approach the themes of power, conflict and death?What does this mean? Can you link this to conflict?
What has happened here? Why has it happened?
What is the deeper meaning / underlying theme?
The modal verb ‘must’ creates a bond between the pilot and the narrator. There is a hint of desperation in the tone as though the narrator wants the reader to also show him mercy. Slide11
Themes in the poem
ConflictDeathPowerFind quotations to support each theme in the poem and explain them to help you revise.Slide12
How could this poem compare to Charge of the Light Brigade?Themes – braveryHow are the soldiers in the poems perceived differently?
The portrayal of conflict – positive/negativeStructure – do the poems use rhythm?Tension – what techniques are used to create tension in the two poems?