Kamikaze- Beatrice Garland

• Explores a daughter's reflection on her connection and relationship with her father who was a kamikaze pilot in ww2 and decided not to complete his suicide mission
• Follows her train of thought as she thinks about the journey her father would have made to go in the mission and she relates her fathers experience to the natural beauty of the world
• Also delves into the situation which occurred when her father returned home and was shunned by his family due to the cultural expectations placed upon them in Japan
• Garland was inspired into looking into the motivations as to why people wanted to die for their country
• During ww2 Japanese kamikaze pilots flew manned suicide missions into military targets using planes filled with explosives as they were taught it was the only way to change the direction of the war
• Very well trained pilots would volunteer to die but towards the end of the war the military would have to recruit people and shun those who refused
• Japans culture was very patriotic and the military would focus on fighting and dying for your country with the sentiment that it was better to be killed then named a coward
• ‘embarked at sunrise’

  -japan is known as the land of the rising sun

  -‘embarked’ means to get in but also to begin something, he is beginning a new chapter of his life
• ‘green-blue translucent sea‘

  -connotations of peace and tranquility in the colour imagery

  -doesn’t want to deny himself, not those he will kill the beauty of nature and life
• 'figure of eight'

  -symbol for infinity

  -may be used to imply the eternal nature of nature-continue indefinitely-nature is infinite incomparision to the transcience of humanity, and life is brief, transient and precious

  -war and honour will be forgotten-nature will remain as it is more powerful then mankind
• 'nor did she meet his eyes'

  -eyes are the windows to the soul

  -doesnt want to see the person he has become-ashamed of her own husband

  -doesnt want to communicate with him-distance herself from him as her daughter will learn to do

  -impact of the conflict is ongoing-passed down from generation to generation
• The poem is structured into tightly controlled stanza lengths of 6 lines, which perhaps reflects the order and obedience expected of a soldier
• The free verse and enjambment could also show that the father is starting to doubt his obedience and realised he wants to pursue the freedom and beauty of life unrestrained
• There is an immediate contrast between 'kamikaze' and 'her father'

  -'kamikaze' establishes his role as a soldier and japanese suicide pilot,

  whereas 'her father' humaises him and shows he has a life outside of his mission and matters to people.

  -the contrast shows the reader the conflicting roles of the man