Kamikaze

• Japanese kamikaze pilots were trained to complete suicide missions in WW2
• The poem is from the collection "The Invention of Fireworks" which explores life and death in the natural world and the danger of mankind
• The narrative is in third person showing how isolated the daughter is from her father
• The propaganda the pilot is under

  " A shaven head full of powerful incantations "

  Image of incantations suggests he is under a spell

  Irony of power as he is powerless to the propaganda
• The beginning of the poem

  " Her father embarked at sunrise "

  • Patriotic imagery
  • Defined by his role of father
• Japan is known as the land of the rising sun
• The end of the poem

  " He must have wondered which had been the better way to die. "

  • End stop