AQA Power and Conflict - Key Quotations and Context

• "In his dark room"


  His sanctuary - like a Church

  Creates a sinister atmosphere - links to war & danger
• "Finally alone"


  Assonance

  Creates a solemn tone - he is finally alone with his own thoughts

  "Finally" suggests he is constantly haunted - his room is a place of refuge, it allows him to escape
• "Spools of suffering set out in ordered rows"

  Sibilance - images of pain and death, emphasises the dark nature of the photos & their content - they're unforgettable

  Alliteration - helps the reader remember key points that the photographer thinks or feels

  Juxtaposition - "spools" implies untidiness whereas "ordered rows" are neat - could mirror the lines of bodies set out neatly and the mess of their injuries distorting their look
• "Only light is red"

  Dual meaning

  1) Connotates with blood - he's familiar with this sight

  2) Connotates with the Sanctuary Lamp that burns in Catholic churches - symbolises the presence of Christ
• "As though this were a church and he a priest"


  1) Exposed to death and suffering like a priest

  2) Simile - his job is a vocation. Priesthood is a life decision - like the photographer
• "Preparing to intone a Mass"


  Contrast with developing evidence of inhuman acts - goes against the Church's teachings

  He views his job seriously
• "All flesh is grass"


  From the New Testament

  Juxtaposition of humans and nature - fragility of human life. Lack of power and control
• "Solutions slop in trays"


  Dual meaning

  1) Onomatopoeia - creates the sound of chemicals used

  2) The images help to resolves conflicts - they act as solutions to problems
• "Did not tremble then though seem to now"


  Showed no emotion when taking the photos - alone now so can show his horror and shock
• "To ordinary pain which simple weather can dispel"


  Mild weather can resolve the normal problems - unlike the war zones

  Juxtaposes the dull stability of home with the warzones
• "Fields which don't explode beneath the feet of running children"

  Children don't have to be cautious of landmines when out playing

  Contrast - barefoot children running for fun - those fleeing because of war
• "Something is happening"

  Volta - change of tone

  Evokes suspense
• "A stranger's features faintly start to twist before his eyes"


  We see the photo evolve
• "A half-formed ghost"


  Dual meaning

  1) The image is slowly appearing on the page

  2) The man is no longer alive - now a ghost
• "How he sought approval without words to do"


  Dual meaning

  1) Couldn't speak the wife's language so he used the exchange of looks to gain permission to publish the photo

  2) So overcome by emotion and horror he's speechless
• "Blood stained into foreign dust"


  The man's blood left marks on the ground in another country - his life has been reduced to a stain
• "A hundred agonies"

  "Five or six"


  Contrast between the phrases - illustrates the editor's apathy when choosing the images - we have little regard for the deceased in the photos
• "Black-and-white"


  Treble meaning

  1) Photo

  2) Good and evil

  3) Truth and lies
• "Eyeballs prick with tears between the bath and pre-lunch beers"


  Demonstrates irony and sarcasm - we are more occupied with the pub and football than caring for those defending the country

  Illustrates that the public quickly forget about the pictures
• "They do not care"


  Conveys a tone of anger - he's ashamed of the public for not being more considerate towards those risking their lives to defend the country

  Implies that despite his efforts, his photos won't make a difference to the war - emphasises his resentment

  "They" - suggests how little he associates himself with everyone else
• Form & Structure


  4 regular six-line stanzas

  Rigid structure contrasts with the disturbing images and messy deaths

  Structure illustrates the photographer's ordered actions - "ordered rows"
• Rhyme & Rhythm


  Rhyme scheme - ABBCDD

  Rhyme reinforces the ideas that he is trying to bring order to a chaotic world - to create an understanding
• Tone & Mood


  He barely associates himself with the public

  Grows bitter towards the public when they show no emotion towards his photos

  Painful

  Detached

  Angry
• Ideas


  He's the only person who's emotionally affected by what the images depict

  He hopes his photos will help to resolve the conflict

  He knows that despite his efforts, his photos won't make a difference
• "Belfast. Beirut. Phnom Penh. All flesh is grass."


  Juxtaposition of the ideas of the church & the warzones listed

  Emphasises the scale of horror he has seen
• "A hundred agonies in black-and-white"


  Pun - dark humour, bitter

  Emphasises morality - war is black & white
• Relation to power & conflict


  1) Persona is taking photos of war & fighting

  2) Conflict between the warzones & "Rural England" - poet is trying to emphasise how out of touch people are about the truth of war