 Now that you have spent some time reading and considering the imagery, connotation, and theme in Randall Jarrell's poem, please respond to the following writing prompt:
No Secondary Blog entries needed for this posting.
9
2/11/2015 11:58:31 pm
This poet demonstrates how death in this occupation is quick in both the sense that it happens quickly and people get over it quickly. He describes being “hunched in its belly” similar to that of a mother’s womb which has an innocent connotation. Babies are a sign of purity and are very literally a symbol of youth. The poet may have inserted this line in order to let the reader infer that the ball turret gunner is almost always the “baby” of the group, or the youngest soldier in the group. Often times sixteen and seventeen year old boys would lie about their age in order to enroll in the army and join the fight. The first line of this poem says, “From my mother’s sleep I fell into the state.” This could be symbolic for those teenagers that snuck out and enlisted in the army. These young boys risk their lives for their country and in surrender their innocence, but in return they get a short lived brutal death. The last line says how the turret gunner is just hosed out of the turret like a fly that just got hit by a car. The poet clearly does not agree with the way these deaths were handled and it is clear that they needed to come up with better jobs for these young boys at this time period.
11
2/12/2015 12:02:38 am
I would interpret this poem as the last final thoughts of a dying man. "and I hunched in its belly till my wet fur froze" can symbolize the blood that's running from his wounds into the turret which he lays. " I woke to black flak and the nightmare fighters" can represent the gunmen from the opposing rivals trying to take his life. When he died, they "washed him out of the turret with a hose" being as to clean away the blood and distain. I think he feels like he wouldn't expect anything less from the people that washed the turret down with a hose, that it was part of the routine when they lose someone. He knew it would happen, but didn't know when.
15
2/12/2015 12:03:02 am
This poem “The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner” tells the story of a dead solider. The Ball Turret Gunner tells us how he basically got to be in the army, “From my mother’s sleep I fell into the State” to me this seems like his mother is unaware of her son being in the army. Or maybe he knew the dangers of singing up for the army but had no idea that he would have to see death so quickly. “And I hunched in its belly till my wet fur froze” he compares himself to an animal, a new born to be specific. “Six miles from earth, loosed from its dream of life,” Earth seems to be the ‘it’ in this line. When you think of earth you think of a nature wonder land, you think of all things green and everything being perfect and untouched. “When I died they washed me out of the turret with a hose” the death of the young Ball Turret Gunner seems to be meaningless because he was just washed out of the Turret with a hose and his limbs were probably fished from under the plane.
4
2/12/2015 12:03:35 am
The first four lines of the poem are long, with two lines for each sentence that make up the four lines. These four lines are basically the author telling a story of being a turret gunner. He tells his story through imagery and symbolism. He says, in the second line, “And I hunched in its belly till my wet fur froze.” This is him describing what it was like inside the ball turret. He did this through comparing it with being in the fetal position, like an animal out of the womb. The imagery of the last line suggests that the author feels like dying in the war is basically fast and painless. “When I died they washed me out of the turret with a hose.” The author uses the word “washed” which creates this image of washing something off the side of the street, just brushing it aside without care. This suggests that the author believes that death in the war is heartless because once he was gone he knew that his spot would just be replaced with someone else who could do his job.
6
2/12/2015 12:04:38 am
I interpret that the first four line of the poem to mean that his mother was unaware of his pledge and joining of the army. Also of him being taken from her. He was hunched in its belly meaning he was put into the turret at the bottom of the plain into like a animal position of discomfort and he was scared and was sweating which is what the author meant about till my wet fur froze. This was because this was the most dangerous position to be in at the bottom of the plain in the wide open the target of fire. He was high of above the earth awaken from his sleep to the real reality of life and him being target in the war the black flak mean smoke and fighters shooting. So this all meant he was scared of war and the fact he was closed in this turret of death .The imagery of the last line suggest that the speaker attitude towards death was more of a nonchalant attitude. Like it’s going to happen so when someone died it was nothing to it you just wash their body / remove their body and replace with another person.
18
2/12/2015 09:23:27 am
The first four lines in the poem The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner means that the poet demonstrated how a person who was brought into the world of life and then suddenly his life was sadly taken away by a tragic accident. “From my mother’s sleep I fell into the State” describes a person looking down at the depths of the Earth as if he’s falling down to his death with his mother not realizing his apparent faith. “And I hunched in it’s belly till my wet fur froze” is describing a person inside a turret gunner, not being able to move around that much, similar to a woman’s womb that has a developing child inside them who cannot move around that much. “Six miles from earth, loosed from it’s dream of life” describes how the Earth can be wondrous for it’s nature, environment, and all life that lives in it, set as a playground area where you discover things that can become a reality. “When I died they washed me out of the turret with a hose” describes a corpse that has no meaning of life anymore as it’s being hosed down out of the turret as if they are trying to eradicate the corpse from existence. The speakers attitude towards the last line of the poem is that even though the enemies has taken a soldier’s life away from them, the enemies has disrespected the deceased soldier as they hosed it’s corpse out of the turret and shows that human beings can be utterly raucous and that a person’s life should never be taken away, because if the person’s life is taken away they can never have it back again as their life has ended shortlessly. Word count: 289.
3
2/12/2015 11:14:35 am
I would interpret this poem as a terrified woman having a complicated birth.The man can visualize the pain his mother was in because he was in pain...dying from a war. He can remember her in the womb, one last memory before he got "washed wind out of the turnet with a hose."
14
2/12/2015 12:34:10 pm
In this poem I can interpret that Jarrell had some very strong feelings towards war and death. I know this because in the first line you can tell that he wanted to be apart of the war because he did it without his mother's consent. Its the fact that it was all done while his mother was "sleeping" and they washed his body out with a hose. It seems like everything that he did was for nothing. You serve to protect your country but in return all they do is hose you out like dirt so the next person can serve. It is like a slap in the face and I now understand how Jarrell feels towards war and death. You want to be remembered for doing something great but when it actually comes down to it, they treat you like you were nothing but another person that couldn't make it to the end. "When I died they washed me out of the turret with a hose." This sentence gives me the impression that maybe they did it because they had keep fighting and didnt want any set backs. But my question is, what did they do with the parts that weren't completely destroyed in the crash? How do you tell that person's loved ones that they only have pieces of them to bury because the rest of them was hosed down and ran into a drain? How do the people you serve with have the heart to do that, cause I couldn't. I really understand how Jarrell feels, it is hurtful to know that this is what could be done to you if you have t go in the turret. Life in the turret sucks!
7
2/12/2015 01:12:05 pm
I feel this poem is a quick yet dramatic overview of someone's life. The author makes it seem as if they were born, went to the army and then died. The beginning lines are well detailed and thought out to make you wonder what he means and analyze it, but then he gets straight to the point at the end when he says "when I died they washed me out of the turret with a hose" to me this says the author feels that the army has no regard for lives taken during war. When you wash something out you have the plans on using it again, so them washing out the turret means they're going to use it again instead of realizing its a death trap. The person that goes into the turret has such an important job to handle so when he dies it should be handled with a high regard instead of just washing him out like dust from the bowl on the top shelve in the kitchen cabinet.
12
2/12/2015 01:32:41 pm
The first four lines of this poem describes how a newborn is brought into the world and into a new state of life, but then at the blink of an eye it was quickly taken. “And hunched in its belly till my wet fur froze.” This quote is describing how there is a very small man inside the turret that is very tight and he can’t move. The turret is considered the womb of a woman. “When I died they washed me out of the turret with a hose.” This quote is basically saying how he gets washed out as if he was being washed off or away from something when reality they mean that he was aggressively hurt and pushed away with no type of care. Some of the lines from this poem kind of explained the author as a person who cares in certain positions when in others he’s careless. He also knew that he wouldn’t be the only one that could do that job; he knew that once he was dead and gone another young guy like himself would eventually have to take over to help out. Word count: 190
5
2/12/2015 03:57:35 pm
The first four lines of the poem named The Death Of the Ball Turret Gunner by Randall Jarrell he describes himself as a new born animal, I think this was a way to express his vulnerability being so young and having to take this job that no one else wants. I think the line that states “ From my mother’s sleep I fell into the State” can tell us that the narrarators mother was un aware of him joining the war and most likely because he was younger than 18 and lied to join. There is alliteration in the second line where he is still refereeing to being a vulnerable baby animal as the deeper meaning but they clear meaning to this would be that he was hunched in the ball turret and the fur of his jacket had been frozen with his condensation In the little globe, then on the third line where he talks about being six miles from the earth, this is very literal because he would be up in the plane about six miles from the ground, killing people and blowing things up which isn’t what the earth had been meant for, and then the fourth line says that he woke too the black flak leaving us to believe that he was dreaming of being in the safety net that mothers provide, while referring to war. The last line shows that the literally washed his remains out with a hose but it could also show the loss of such a innocent short life and all his opportunities and what he could have been being washed out with a hose. This tells us that the author wasn’t ready for death he was vulnerable and his dreams had been crushed but the way he says it suggest that it was a norm during war you could expect something so harsh and grime to happen.
8
2/13/2015 03:28:06 am
Based on the information, I would interpret the first four lines of the poem as symbolic. The author also uses imaginary to describe the ball turret gunner. For example, he says “from my mother’s sleep I fell into the state, and I hunched in its belly till my wet fur froze.” He is describing himself inside of the ball turret and the wet fur froze is the coat he is wearing and how cold it gets inside that thing. It was also dangerous being inside that turret because; if the landing gear didn’t work it was going to be a rough landing. The saying from my mother’s sleep is saying that his mother is unaware of what he is doing during the fight because most of the teens lie about their age. There were 14 year olds fighting in the war because they were low on soldiers during the fight. “I woke to black flak and the nightmare fighters” means the gun smoke coming from the enemies’ turret and in his mind, this might be it cause he’s locked in with no way out. This tells us that the author believes war is an endless battle with both side losing something and having no regrets.
17
3/2/2015 10:31:32 am
In the poem "The death of the ball turret" i believe it was about a man dying in war. I believe this because when the author states "And I hunched in its belly till my wet fur froze" that makes me see an animal that is slowly dying because when something is frozen, its not moving just like the man that died. Then when the author says "Six miles from earth" that reminds me of how when you get buried, you get buried 6 feet in the ground. when the author talks about being six miles away from earth its like hes saying hes not there anymore, that no one can hear him scream and i feel as if that line ties back to the first line when he says "From my mother’s sleep I fell into the State". When the author said "When I died they washed me out of the turret with a hose." i feel like he was stating that his death didn't mean anything to anyone, that they knew that he was going to die, but he seems to feel like they didnt care what so ever all they did was wash his memory away and replaced him like his sacrifice was worthless. 207 words
10
3/2/2015 10:45:26 pm
The literal imagery that was in the poem “The Death Of the Ball Turret Gunner” consisted of him saying “he looked like a fetus in the womb.” As a reader, the way that I interpret this is that the gunner must have been scared. He must have been so scared of death that it brought him back to when he was born. As a gunner in the war he must have been scared that any second could have been his last, and any shot he heard could have been aimed at him. He was probably unsure of how to deal with the whole war scene and it affected him as you can tell. I believe that the speakers attitude through the poem is that there is a good chance of death out there and he understands that it can happen at any time. For instance, when he says “six miles from earth, loosed from the dream of life” I think the writer is showing great understanding that the dream of life is to be happy and most importantly to live, but he also shows understanding that what he is doing involves risk, and when he says “hunched in its belly till my wet fur froze, this could mean that he got shot in the belly and was bleeding until it froze. So he shows a good understanding of the meaning of life. Comments are closed.
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