Summary contains a detailed analysis and quotes of Kamikaze by Beatrice Garland according to the AQA GCSE English Literature spec and this had helped me go from a C to an A
GCSE English Lit AQA Poetry Anthology - Power and Conflict
- Kamikaze (Beatrice Garland)
Content, Meaning and Purpose:
● In WW2 Japanese kamikaze pilots would fly missiles into targets.
● Explores a kamikaze pilot’s journey towards battle and his decision to return and
how he is stunned when he returns home.
● When looking down at the sea, the beauty of nature and memories of childhood
makes him decide to turn back.
Context:
● Cowardice or surrender was a great shame in Japan during WW2.
● By surrendering meant shame for you and your family and rejection by society:
‘He must have wondered which had been the better way to die’
Language:
● ‘Embarked at sunrise’ - imagery about light (power of nature), suggests a great
honour for your country, ‘sunrise’ suggests loyalty in japan as its part of the flag
and ‘embarked’ gives reader the impression of adventure or discovery as the
pilot discovers the beauty in life and decides not to kill people.
● ‘Learned to be silent’ - Contrast to the last line ‘Chattering and laughing’ using
Juxtaposition. The verb ‘learned’ suggests that it wasn’t the narrator's fault that
the father was ignored, they were only children and they’d done what they were
told which touches the idea of innocence. The device it uses is a metaphor for
‘silence’ that the father had to endure, creating sympathy for the father.
● ‘Which had been the better way to die’ - Oxymoron - ‘better way to die’ Indicates
how poorly the soldier had been treated, gives sense of regret, enjambment and
emphasises this regret and how she can’t control it with a sense of regret, the
narrator feels a massive sense of guilt for not treating her father better
suggesting she clearly wishes that she’s done better.
Form and Structure:
● 3rd person, representing the distance between her and her father and his
rejection by society.
● First 5 stanzas are ordered whilst he’s flying on his set mission
● Only a full stop at the end of stanza 5: as he had made the decision to turn back
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