ipl-logo

What Is The Theme Of The Poem Homecoming By Bruce Dawe

463 Words2 Pages

Bruce Dawe wrote his poem “Homecoming” in 1968 during the Viet Nam war. The poem is an anti-war poem giving the author’s negative view of his home country Australia’s involvement in the dehumanizing conflict. The title of the poem provides irony. When one thinks of homecoming, it is usually a happy time or one that both parties find reviving. There is no happiness for those involved in this homecoming…only deep loss and the question, “Why?” This poem is written in the free verse style. It utilizes repetition to emphasize his key points. In addition, his use of participial “ing” words promotes the loss of identity of those soldiers who have died in this bleak war. Those who care for the dead follow a standard procedure: They are picking, bringing, zipping, tagging, giving, rolling, freezing, and bringing the dead heroes home. …show more content…

His imagery gruesomely portrays the gathering of the dead and differentiating them in a cataloguing style. He separates the ethnicity of the dead by their hair: curly, crew-cuts and balding. To represent the loss of men in a respectful way is part of the theme of the poem. Yet, Dawe’s perspective of war in its entirety forces the reader to watch as the many young bodies that are flown home are taken by their families to their final resting place. The author’s tone is sardonic and ironic. His repetitive point of more and more dead coming day after day forces the reader to visualize the sacrificial lambs [men] to the great god “war.” The treatment of the body is the respectful but robotic management which saddens and evokes strong emotions. The literary devices employed by the author include

Show More
Related
1891 Words | 8 Pages

This passage shows how the soldiers are emotionally and mentally drained by the horrors of war, and how they feel disconnected from the world they once knew. The

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
280 Words | 2 Pages

I find Ho Chi Minh’s letter far more persuasive than Lyndon B. Johnson’s. Using ethos, pathos, and logos, he forms a solid argument that supports Vietnam’s stance on the war. He appeals to one’s emotions by expressing the injustices faced by his people, writing, “In South Viet-Nam a half-million American soldiers and soldiers from the satellite countries have resorted to the most barbarous methods of warfare, such as napalm, chemicals, and poison gases in order to massacre our fellow countrymen, destroy the crops, and wipe out villages.” Words such as “massacre” and “barbarous” highlight the severity of these crimes, and invoke feelings of guilt and remorse in the reader. Chi Minh uses ethos to support his logos, or logical, views on the

Read More
488 Words | 2 Pages

Death of the Ball Turret Gunner is set in a World War II bomber, more specifically the “belly” of the bomber. While the poem itself uses the word belly to describe the ball turret, the way Randall Jarrell, the author, describes the setting makes it feel more like the ball turret is the “womb” of the plane. And I think that he wrote this poem intending readers to see that. In the very first line of the poem, he mentions the soldier’s mother and sets the stage by mentioning her and making that idea fresh in our minds. Jarrell uses the idea of a mother and writes the bomber as if there is a parallel between a mother and the bomber.

Read More
974 Words | 4 Pages

Accessed 23 April 2018. Mays, Kelly J. “Chapter 1 Understanding the Text.” The Norton Introduction to Literature 12th Edition, edited by Spencer Richardson-Jones, W.W. Norton & Company, 2017, pp 92 & 1421. McGuire, Thomas G. and Bryan Doerries. "Bryan Doerries Discusses the Theater of War & the Palliative of Shared Suffering."

Read More
334 Words | 2 Pages

Written by Bruce Dawe, “ Home-coming,” is a free verse poem . There is one stanza , one verse but three segments. The tone of the poem is bitter and full of sadness. The title of the poem is ironic. We associate the word “ home-coming,” with happiness and laughter.

Read More
598 Words | 3 Pages

Leading member of the American Civil Liberties Union, Clarence Darrow, in his 1924 case appeal, A Plea for Mercy, defends his clients, Richard Loeb and Nathan Leopald Jr., of murder. Darrow’s purpose was to persuade the audience, the judge and jury, into shortening the boy’s sentence because the terrible acts of war has tainted the nation. He exhibits an aggressive tone by using fear, allusions, and metaphors to bring justification to the boys by appealing to his audience. Darrow implements fear throughout the duration of his speech to persuade his audience to believe the state of our nation has paved way for two, very well off, boys to turn into murderers.

Read More
196 Words | 1 Pages

War poetry. War poetry for many soldiers is the only release of the extreme emotions felt at the traumatic experiences they endured. It has not only helped many communicate their thoughts and expressions, but for us as a society it has helped us gain an understanding to the true horrors of war. One such poet is David Campbell. Campbell served in the RAAF as a boat pilot in World War 2, and helped transport the soldiers from destination to destination; seeing the new recruits and the war-stricken recruits.

Read More
1397 Words | 6 Pages

We live in a world where we have to hide to make love, while violence is practiced in broad daylight. John Lennon. Based on his own reading and reflection, Bruce Dawe constructs his attitudes towards war in his poems, Homecoming and Weapons Training, believing it to be lacking sense historically and ultimately futile. By specifically addressing an Australian cultural context, the poet exposes a universal appeal in that the insensitivity and anonymity are common attitudes towards soldiers during war. Dawe clearly expresses his ‘anti-war sentiment’ through his use of language and imagery as he examines the dehumanising aspects of war and its brutal reality.

Read More
1016 Words | 5 Pages

Australian poet, Bruce Dawe articulated his viewpoint on the social destruction war had on families and loved ones. His poem, ‘Homecoming’ promotes the mental state many soldiers had when sent to war lacking vital survival tactics and training in the battle field. As a result of their insufficient training, many came home dead, this was their ‘Homecoming’. Dawe was born in Fitzroy, Victoria, 1930. His father was a farmer, however spent an inconsiderable amount of time unemployed.

Read More
982 Words | 4 Pages

In the poems “Disabled” by Wilfred Owen and “The Bright Lights of Sarajevo” by Tony Harrison, both poems present the truths of war. However, both differ in terms of setting and contrast that help depicts the similarities between their theme. Disabled takes place within World War I as Owen vividly describes the subject’s amputation, but the poem is centered around the subject’s adjustment to civilian life after war. In The Bright Lights of Sarajevo although Harrison discusses the consequences of partaking in war in the town, he illustrates the way in which life goes on regardless the horrific impact. Through use of setting and contrast, both poets contribute to presenting the theme of the realities of war.

Read More
311 Words | 2 Pages

I was once called the Land of the Free. A country where everyone was created equal. My children had fought vigorously for me, and I returned them all that they desired. I offered them crops, lakes, and trees. They accepted my materials and made me the Home of the Brave.

Read More
1371 Words | 6 Pages

War. Rejection. Contemplation. “Disabled” by Wilfred Owens is known as one of his most disturbing and affecting poems because it was written while he was recovering from shell shock after World War I, during 1917. The poem focuses on criticizing the sacrifices many young soldiers have made, due to their naive desire for glory and government’s propaganda.

Read More
769 Words | 4 Pages

Siegfried Sassoon’s “Repression of War Experience” is rises above other contemporary poems of its time because it brings to light the world of the shell shock or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) of World War One and shares it with the public in a way that inspires compassion but is also damning to those who would continue for their blind praise for a war that took so many lives. Sassoon’s description of being in a convalescence home brings the reality of what he was experiencing to light for those he would accuse of being so ignorant to the reality that lurked across the English Channel. During the poem Sassoon describes the house where he is convalescing briefly. “Books; what a jolly company they are/

Read More

More about What Is The Theme Of The Poem Homecoming By Bruce Dawe

Related Topics

Open Document