Kamikaze

• "Her father embarked at sunrise / with a flask of water, a samurai sword"

  • sibilance - peaceful sound reflects peace he finds in death
  • sunrise - symbolises Japan and meeting God after death
  • embarked - grandfather's boat reminds him of fishing and persuades him to not kill the sailors - he relates to the enemy
• "And sometimes, she said, he must have wondered which had been the better way to die"

  • daughter has never spoken to her father about his decision as the memory is too painful for him
  • Father has died emotionally within the family
  • Garland complicates who's speaking through generations to highlight the complexity of culture
• "till gradually we too learned to be silent"

  • line break - volta
  • unnatural for children to disown their father
  • learned - daughter is reflecting on childhood and thinks her decision was wrong