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War Photographer, comparisons - Coggle Diagram
War Photographer
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summary
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the pictures depict huge suffering yet the speaker describes how most people will glance over a few of them in the newspaper from the comfort of their safe home. the speaker says they won't understand fully or do anything about what they see
the purpose is to highlight how people in the West are isolated from the horrors of war in other parts of the world therefore we are desensitised to the suffering and only read it before turning the page to something else
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stark contrast between the comfortable and safe lives of those in countries unaffected by war and the indescribable horror of those living in war-torn countries is a running them throughout the poem
images of comfort: "rural England", "Ordinary pain which simple weather can dispel", "Sunday supplement", "Eyeball's prick with tears between the bath and pre-lunch beers"
The editor in the poem and those who browse the images on a Sunday morning represent these uncaring attitudes --> they represent the lack of empathy or thought that some people have for those affected by war
Images of pain: "Running children in a nightmare heat", "Cries of this man's wife", "Blood-stained", "Fields which don't explode beneath the feet"
"Belfast. Beirut. Phnom Penh" --> these one-word sentences and caesuras give the poem a stop-start feel --> reflects the casual and dismissive tone of those unaffected by suffering --> could reflect the photographer slowly considering each country suffering from war and respecting them
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techniques
religious imagery
"All flesh is grass" --> the metaphor points out the scale of bloodshed and creates a gruesome image --> also a line from the Bible that means human life is temporary
war photographer is associated with a priest "as though this were a church and he a priest preparing to intone a mass" and "the only light is read and softly glows" (reference to a continuous red light in Catholic churches that symbolises Christ's presence) --> paints the photographer as respectful towards the dead and committed to his work --> similar to a priest, he too is faced with suffering
comparisons
reality of conflict: Remains, Bayonet Charge and Poppies
conflicting emotions: Kamikaze, Remains, The Emigree