ipl-logo

Bushrod's Dream In The Black Flower

192 Words1 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Tactics of the civil war

The story The Black Flower first starts out with a dream. This dream was experienced by a man named Bushrod Carter. Bushrod is a 26 year old Confederate soldier. Bushrod and his colleagues are preparing for a battle located in Franklin, Tennessee. Bushrod is a veteran of every campaign in Tennessee. Once Bushrod was a corporal but, he was accused of stealing so he lost that right. Bushrod is also, a well liked and respected solider. Bushrod is also a soldier in the Cumberland Rifles, this is a Mississippi outfit whittled down to a few souls by years of war. After a long grim day of work Bushrod and some of his friends go through their pre-battle rituals. They banter firmly about the black flower. The black flower is a soldiers sense of foreboding.
Show More
Related
888 Words | 4 Pages

The first stanza, “With two white roses on her breasts, White candles at head and feet, Dark Madonna of the grave she rests; Lord Death has found her sweet”(1-4), the poem briefly states that a young girl has passed away. It is not known how her death has occurred. These lines of the poem give evidence that the young girl is getting buried or having a funeral due to the images of “white roses” and “white candles”. Also with the line three, “Dark Madonna of the grave she rests”(3), is a dead giveaway that a young black girl has died because the “Dark Madonna” represents a dark Virgin Mary who, in this poem, happens to be resting which represents death. The first two lines of the second stanza states, “Her mother pawned her wedding ring to lay her out in white”(5-6).

Read More
551 Words | 3 Pages

The last line of the poem says, ‘they’re bringing them home, now, too late, too early.’ This means that those that died in

Read More
679 Words | 3 Pages

The poem uses vivid and graphic imagery to depict the gruesome conditions that soldiers face on the battlefield. The first stanza describes soldiers returning to their trenches after being on

Read More
1374 Words | 6 Pages

Soldiers typically lacked sympathy for what they went through from society ignoring the trauma they brought back from the Vietnam War. The following quote from the article presents the thought process of most soldiers to us: “By forgetting, he said he could prove that he was strong and could master his anxieties… by remembering, he felt he was admitting that he was weak and no longer in control” (Penk and Robinowitz 3). The previous quote shows how the soldiers felt that forgetting made them appear strong rather than letting their emotions weaken them, and this is why we see a soldier’s inner conflict as they force themselves to remember in the poem. In this quote from the poem the soldier has come to the monument for remembering those who passed in the war and as he looks at those names his first thought is: “No tears.

Read More
606 Words | 3 Pages

This imagery shows the effect of being shot in the head. We learn how the soldier looked and how he was so disturbed. Tim O'Brien's use of imagery made the story come to life and the reader is able to understand the significance of the horror of the

Read More
753 Words | 4 Pages

“Myop laid down her flowers. And the summer was over.” (Walker, 1150). By laying the flowers down it conveys that the beauty of innocence is lost and summer was over. When the children in When the Emperor is Divine are in the train heading to the camps.

Read More
1352 Words | 6 Pages

O’Brien then adds, “the way your eyes focus on a tiny white pebble or a blade of grass and how you start thinking, Oh man, that’s the last thing I’ll ever see, that pebble, that blade of grass, which makes you want to cry” (182). This statement encompasses the ultimate reality of facing death on the battlefield. People might even ask themselves what sort of heroic death they are departing with, and whether they are truly proud of their sacrifice in that moment of departure. The truth is, soldiers are not thinking about their country when they’re being shot at, they’re thinking about everybody they know, especially themselves and their fellow infantry mates fighting viciously beside them; and that is the main idea that O’Brien cleverly articulates as the tone of all the firefights they encounter in the

Read More
1228 Words | 5 Pages

Throughout the entire novel Tim O’brien depicts how each of his fellow platoon members are controlled by their subconscious mind. In this specific chapter, through O’brien’s use of imagery, we are allowed to see how traumatizing and brain picking the realities of war actually is. Rat Kiley, the protagonist of this chapter, has finally had too much, from witnessing people die at war to being placed in the darkness, and he’s reached his breaking point. Everyone knew that Rat was losing his mind and, “it was a sad thing to watch” (221). It was sad because they were aware of the reason behind his actions, which was the war itself, but it was also sad because his fellow troops knew there was nothing that they could do to help him  and that they were just as susceptible to falling into the same madness that captured Rat Kiley.

Read More
564 Words | 3 Pages

The “Azar” within each soldier lies dormant, only until invoked by war, by desire for destruction and bloodshed—whereas the qualities of Ted Lavender are extinguished upon the first draft. In The Things They Carried, by Tim O’ Brien, the character of Ted Lavender embodies the weaker, mellower side of human nature that dies with war. In “The Lives of the Dead,” O’ Brien, the narrator, reminisces upon his antemortem memories of Lavender. “Ted Lavender had a habit of popping four or five tranquilizers every morning.

Read More
471 Words | 2 Pages

This moment is shown on my drawing. In my drawing shows the two rivalling parties; the Jews on the left and across the fence is the Nazi party. In the drawing, the background and the nature are all coloured in brown and there is marks of bloodshed in the ground. This was done, to represent that the war between the Jews and the Nazi did nothing more than destroy people’s lives. The withered flowers on the ground also contribute to the factor of disappointment.

Read More
754 Words | 4 Pages

Lavender carried dope, tranquilizers, and extra ammunition; the drugs acting as depressants to shut down the central nervous system and the extra ammunition acting in as a placebo for reassurment. He exuded cowardice. Ironically, Lavender’s death became unavoidable despite his precautions. He died simply, a single shot, no time for fear or panic. Moreover, soldiers carried symbols of their deplorable compulsions.

Read More
848 Words | 4 Pages

The Beauty of the Southern Flowers “Neighbors bring food with death and flowers with sickness and little things in between.” (Lee 278). When it comes to the topic of flowers, most of us will readily agree that they represent development, growth, beauty and happiness. For instance, Roses are known for signifying love and deep passion while Lotus flowers are known for purity of the heart. Nonetheless, in To Kill a Mockingbird, Lee utilizes flowers to symbolize the strength and character that women of Maycomb possess.

Read More
1079 Words | 5 Pages

This very short poem describes a man that is in one moment asleep in his mother’s womb (“from my mother’s sleep I fell into the state”) and the next moment is fighting for his life in the belly of a B-17 or B-24 aircraft only to die suddenly (“Six miles from earth, loosed from its dream of life”). The fear that is expressed in this poem is the fear of unjust acts becoming justified in war. One should not wash another man’s blood from an aircraft and not feel remorse of pity, but these are the harsh realities of war. The dehumanizing actions of the soldier’s are justified in the case of

Read More
447 Words | 2 Pages

Also, the author symbolizes heaven by using “amphibian empiries”. That shows the author is relaxed about the death and the soldier, or toad, is in a better place. The audience can also infer the author has PTSD from war. The last sentence says “in the wide and antique eyes which still appear to watch across the castrate lawn, the haggard daylight steer.” This imagery lets the audience see that the author is probably sitting and remember seeing all the accidents that happened in the war.

Read More
597 Words | 3 Pages

First, the black and white picture makes an appeal to emotion. The monochromatic colors help to evoke a nostalgic and sentimental feeling while also giving it a sense of timelessness. That probably explains why this photo still persists in people’s memories after so many passing years. Furthermore, the placement of the soldiers and flag in the middle create a central focal point for the viewers. The eyes are following the straight pole of the flag downward into the ground and from there the rubble surrounding the scene become much more noticeable while also indicating the devastation of the battle.

Read More

More about Bushrod's Dream In The Black Flower

Related Topics

Open Document