The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner
By Randall Jarrell
From my mother's sleep I fell into the State,
And I hunched in its belly till my wet fur froze.
Six miles from earth, loosed from its dream of life,
I woke to black flak and the nightmare fighters.
When I died they washed me out of the turret with a hose.
And I hunched in its belly till my wet fur froze.
Six miles from earth, loosed from its dream of life,
I woke to black flak and the nightmare fighters.
When I died they washed me out of the turret with a hose.
Here's a little bit on what Randall Jarrell described as a ball turret for those who aren't aware.
Here the poet gives us an explanation of how the soldier in the ball turret looked like a fetus in a womb. This is the connecting thread for interpreting the poem. The first line starts with the narrator, who we presume to be the ball turret gunner, talking about how he fell into the state from his mother's sleep. Instead of falling into a womb he falls into the State. During the time of World War II many people were drafted to fight. Here it's easy to understand how the ball turret gunner could have fell into the hands of the state.
The second line alludes to hunching in the belly of the state. Here we might see that the ball turret gunner is in the B-17 or B-24 and freezing in a fur lined coat. The next line alludes to the height of the bombers as they flew towards their target. Here loosed from the dreams of life the earth has. But what are the dreams the earth has? Dreams of a domesticated life perhaps, marriage, work, children and so forth. However at this height these dreams have no hold on him.
The fourth line juxtaposes the nightmares and dreams of the former life. The major juxtaposition being that he woke to a nightmare of fighters. When one thinks of the bomber as a slow moving mother wherein the ball turret gunner is held like a fetus, and the bombers as marauders upon a helpless mother, one then understands the helplessness and nightmare of the situation.
The fifth and final line is post mortem, giving perspective to the narrative. When I died, they washed me out of the turret with a hose. The last line is completely concrete in it's depiction of his death and the lack of ceremony which with they wash him out of the turret. Each line prior, had some figurative aspect to it, but the end consequences of the sally were completely concrete. With death comes the loss of the figurative.
A ball turret was a Plexiglas sphere set into the belly of a B-17 or B-24, and inhabited by two .50 caliber machine guns and one man, a short small man. When this gunner tracked with his machine guns a fighter attacking his bomber from below, he revolved with the turret; hunched upside-down in his little sphere, he looked like the fetus in the womb. The fighters which attacked him were armed with cannon firing explosive shells. The hose was a steam hose.
Here the poet gives us an explanation of how the soldier in the ball turret looked like a fetus in a womb. This is the connecting thread for interpreting the poem. The first line starts with the narrator, who we presume to be the ball turret gunner, talking about how he fell into the state from his mother's sleep. Instead of falling into a womb he falls into the State. During the time of World War II many people were drafted to fight. Here it's easy to understand how the ball turret gunner could have fell into the hands of the state.
The second line alludes to hunching in the belly of the state. Here we might see that the ball turret gunner is in the B-17 or B-24 and freezing in a fur lined coat. The next line alludes to the height of the bombers as they flew towards their target. Here loosed from the dreams of life the earth has. But what are the dreams the earth has? Dreams of a domesticated life perhaps, marriage, work, children and so forth. However at this height these dreams have no hold on him.
The fourth line juxtaposes the nightmares and dreams of the former life. The major juxtaposition being that he woke to a nightmare of fighters. When one thinks of the bomber as a slow moving mother wherein the ball turret gunner is held like a fetus, and the bombers as marauders upon a helpless mother, one then understands the helplessness and nightmare of the situation.
The fifth and final line is post mortem, giving perspective to the narrative. When I died, they washed me out of the turret with a hose. The last line is completely concrete in it's depiction of his death and the lack of ceremony which with they wash him out of the turret. Each line prior, had some figurative aspect to it, but the end consequences of the sally were completely concrete. With death comes the loss of the figurative.
No comments:
Post a Comment