Kamikaze

• Context of Kamikaze

  • Beatrice Garland is a British Poet; thus, she was not writing based on her own experience. This is typical of her work, as it often involves immersing herself within someone else's perspective.

  
  

  • Japan's military attitudes were founded on codes of honour and self-sacrifice, these stemmed from the tradition of the samurai warrior, making the sword a pertinent symbol within the poem.

  
  

  • These social and military codes were so deeply ingrained into society that they controlled people's behaviour, even towards their loved ones. Typically, Kamikaze pilots were volunteers, which conveys how firmly people believed in these values, enough to sacrifice their own lives

  
  

  • By the end of the war, the Japanese army did not have enough volunteers to embark on the Kamikaze suicide mission thus they had to recruit unwilling men, often their only motivation to carry out the mission would be the threat of public shame upon their return-something which is explored within Garland's poem.
• Full of powerful incantations


  • Patriotism is portrayed as an indoctrinating force, the phrase "full of powerful incantations" in a literal sense references the prayers and affirmations that would've been repeated in support of these pilots.

  
  

  • Delving deeper, it suggests the pilot was under a spell. It portrays the influence of propaganda as hypnotic and bewitching. This is contextually important as Japanese soldiers were taught that self-sacrifice was the only means by which they could win the war, it seems that Garland subtly disapproves of this brainwashing.
• fishing boat strung out like bunting


  The simile "fishing boats strung out like bunting" is ironic as "bunting" has traditional connotations of celebration. This depicts the extent to which propaganda distorted people's beliefs- death and suicide became an act to be celebrated.
• like a huge flag waved first one way

  then the other in a figure of eight'


  The simile "like a huge flag" to describe the movement of fish has a dual meaning.

  Could be an allusion to the flag of Japan- even nature is viewed through a patriotic lens. Patriotism conducted their entire world view and society were marionettes of traditional socio-political beliefs.

  Alternatively, the waving of a flag is reminiscent of an act of surrender. This dichotomy of meaning explores the pilot's, internal divisions, as he is driven by overt patriotism and a yearning to concede.
• "silver of whitebait"


  The imagery "silver of whitebait" is an ecclesiastical allusion (relating to Christianity). Jesus was a symbol of sacrifice, yet this was in response to Judas betraying him, he was offered 30 pieces of "silver" by the Romans in order to do so. Thus, Biblically, "silver" is a symbol of this betrayal-perhaps the pilot feels he has been betrayed by his leaders.

  
  

  • As Garland is adopting someone else's perspective to write this poem, and it is a perspective that would likely be foreign to her readership. She employs allusions that would be more familiar to a British population to convey the overall notion of institutionalised beliefs that conduct the way a person lives their life.
• the dark prince, muscular, dangerous


  The power balances between nature and humans are unbalanced. Even the most tenacious individual, a kamikaze pilot, could perceive its peril. The fish in the poem poses the greatest scrutiny; the pilot, a representation of tenacity and fortitude in the military, is not. The usage of the word "prince" in a metaphorical sense denotes it as something noteworthy and important, deserving of honour and respect (like a soldier) uses the poem's first punctuation—a full stop—to emphasise its importance and indicate that it is important enough to be noticed.On the other hand, the idea of being deceived by a ruler is maintained in the phrase "the dark prince," which equates nobility with perversion because the word "dark" illustrates malfeasance.
• "Her father embarked at sunrise with a flask of water, a samurai sword"


  • Immediately there is a disparity between the pilots assigned role within the title of "Kamikaze" and his personal role "her father". The noun "father" imbues the poem with a sense of intimacy, making it far more emotionally charged. Garland's ability to see the person beneath the façade of a soldier suggests that no identity.

  
  

  • Garland communicates that military expectations corrupt familial life and strip a person of agency as even if he chooses to abandon military convention to return home to his family, there is a sad irony in the truth that he is rejected by them anyway.
• nor did she meet his eyes


  Not going to "meet his eyes". The windows to the soul are the eyes. feels ashamed of her own husband and doesn't want to witness the person he has become. She neglects to acknowledge what she is doing, feels bad about leaving her husband, finds it challenging, but feels obligated to do so by her culture.
• Perspective shifts (form)

  • Kamikaze falls within the category of war poetry that explores the experience of those left behind, the people that didn't tight. Although it is written from the daughter's perspective, the third-person narrative establishes a sense of detachment. This mirrors both the detachment the daughter teels from her father and the detachment those left behind teel trom the soldiers who experienced the war first-hand

  • The reader is prompted to pity this unexpectedly obscure narrative to describe what would conventionally be an intimate relationship- the negative effects of war endured socially, politically, emotionally for generations to come
• Volta (form)


  • There is a volta that manifests as a shift from the third to the first person which allows the reader to appreciate that war trauma was passed through the generation. It imbues the poem with a personal quality to serve as a reminder that these experiences, despite being distant happened to real people.

  
  

  • The final couplet shifts once again to the third person to re-establish a sense of detachment. It sets up an ultimatum questioning which would've been the "better way to die" yet ironically, the pilot is silenced, denying him the opportunity to answer.
• Enjambment (structure)

  • As previously mentioned, enjambement is rife within the poem. It creates momentum and a sense of restlessness which could mirror the pilot's disrupted mind.

  • Initially, it accelerates the speed of the poem, the pilot had to act quickly to avoid reflecting on thoughts of death- he was acting in almost a robotic manner under the mind control of his leaders.

  
  

  • Alternatively, Garland creates a disparity between the rigid structure of the regular sestets and the free-flowing enjambement. This could be emblematic of the oppressive military control in comparison to the freedom of his childhood.
• Lack of rhyme scheme (structure)

  • The absence of rhyme presents the poem in a prosaic manner (unpoetic it the way it was written).

  • This serves to mimic it being told orally as a story to the daughter's children, it also strays from any romantic flourishes that could glorify the notion of war.

  • It is told simplistically and factually to allow emotion to shine through and make shifts such as the change in perspective more apparent and unsettling.
• Similarities with Poppies - Themes

  Both poems romanticise and reminisce about life before war and childhood. Both poems utilise the words of family members of soldiers to explore the experience of having a close relative involved in a battle. They both interrogate the psychological impact of war on civilians. They are looking at unconventional and unvoiced perspectives of war.
• Differences with Poppies - Themes

  Poppies looks at the experience of a mother saying goodbye to her son, however, Kamikaze is the personal experience of a soldier who went off to fight, told through the voice of his daughter. Kamikaze also looks at the concept of shame, and loss.
• Similarities with Poppies - Form

  Sections of Kamikaze are italicised in a first-person perspective

  which mirrors the emotional aspects of Poppies.
• Differences with Poppies - Form

  Kamikaze is written in a third- person narrative-it is telling a story. The absence of the pilot's voice is used to show how he has been cut off from society- it exacerbates the distance between the father and the daughter.

  In Poppies the distance between the mother and son is portrayed through the silent listener to the second person narrative.
• Similarities with Poppies - Structure

  There is no rhyme in either poem, it allows emotion and experience to take precedence over romanticising war.
• Differences with Poppies - Structure

  Kamikaze is a structured story, comprised of regular stanzas- it seems rehearsed whereas

  Poppies seems improvised. Kamikaze has 5 stanzas that from a single sentence. What follows this is the repercussions of his actions- it is ordered and structured like a story.
• Similarities with Poppies - Context

  Both were written by contemporary British poets voicing unorthodox perspectives of war.
• Differences with Poppies - Context

  Japanese Kamikaze pilots were sent on suicide missions in the war. This poem explores the

  experience of a man who turned back out of fear. The loss explored here is societal rejection. Poppies context is far more personal, whereas Kamikaze is more societal.
• Similarities with TCOTLB - Themes

  Both poems explore how men became puppets of war and expose the reality of warfare as a suicide mission. They explore the concept of devotion, patriotism and honour.
• Differences with TCOTLB - Themes

  • Kamikaze integrates the notion of shame and regret: whereas COTLB remains focussed on honour and nobility.

  • COTLB collectivises the soldiers as doesn't focus on personal experiences whereas Kamikaze looks at the personal experience of a soldier and his family.
• Differences with TCOTLB - Form

  COTLB is a ballad used to commemorate a story that would be told to future generations. It

  is written in dactylic dimeter (a stressed syllable followed by two unstressed ones) which mirrors the galloping of a horse in battle.

  
  

  Kamikaze employs shifts in narrative

  perspectives as a reminder of the personal impact of war, whereas TCOTLB remains in third person
• Differences with TCOTLB - Structure

  Kamikaze does not have a rhyme scheme; it is surprisingly prosaic in structure as it takes the form of a story instead. COTLB has an irregular

  rhyme scheme consisting of rhyming

  couplets. It creates a sense of chaos within the poem.
• Similarities with TCOTLB - Context

  Both were written by poets who did not experience the life of a soldier like themselves.
• Differences with TCOTLB - Context

  COTLB speaks of the Crimean war, British soldiers were involved but underprepared with only light armour on horseback. The decisions made by the military at the time were controversial and unpopular with the public. This contrasts the society explored in Kamikaze who were completely indoctrinated by military values or honour.
• Kamikaze

  . : a member of a Japanese air attack corps in World War II assigned to make a suicidal crash on a target