WHO IS THE SPEAKER?

Author: Steve Carlsen

Steve Carlsen was born and lives in Dowagiac Michigan. He joined the US Army in October 2000 and went to Infantry Basic Training, and Airborne School in Ft. Benning Georgia. He then reported to D Company 1st battalion 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment. 82nd Airborne Division in Ft. Bragg North Carolina. He deployed to Kosovo in November 2001 as part of peace keeping operations. He Deployed to Afghanistan in of December 2002 where he participated in combat operations. He was honourably discharged from the Army in 2003. He currently attends South western Michigan College where his professor, Dr Michael Collins challenged him to write about his experiences.

His vast military experience allowed him to tell us the readers how harsh and cruel war can bring be it in small scale wars or large scale ones like World Wars. The main theme is that one would lose his innocence after being involved and scarred by war.

The atmosphere in this poem is very intense and there is suspense. The persona is probably a soldier fighting in the war. Based on the background information on him, he is probably describing about his experiences in the Afghan war. The voice is probably dramatised in order to show the harsh conditions that are in the wall. He offers a political viewpoint.

ANALYSIS: POINT OF VIEW & CHARACTERISATION

The poem is about a soldier and his comrades running and fighting for their lives. They are frightened and fearful and hence don't even take off their boots when sleeping, fearing that they might have to wake up any moment to continue fighting the war, they are anxious and high in adrenalin.

This poem is viewed through the eyes of the author through the usage of the pronouns “I”, “our”, “we”, and “my”. The abstract allows the poet to show how the war affects the soldiers, from the soldiers own point-of-view through the poem. Furthermore, this point-of-view will cause the reader to be better able to understand the feelings and emotions that the poet is trying to convey, for first-person narration gives the reader the opportunity to relate to and sympathise with the persona. ?

ANALYSIS: THE SITUATION & THE SETTING

The situation the persona is in is extremely bleak and terrifying, for he has to jump from his plane into enemy territory, and into a hail of gunfire. The persona, and indeed the poet, is a paratrooper who every day of his life has to risk everything for his country, jumping into enemy territory under a hail of gunfire. This situation could be the reason the persona was and is beginning to doubt the war and his chances at survival "The reason why I survived the day was divine". He has also developed a close relationship with his platoon mates, as can be seen by "They say that blood is thicker than water, well lead is thicker than blood. In near death or critical situations, bonds forged can remain for one's entire lifetime, and are held by some as higher than even their own family. The persona is also numbed to the situation by then - he "kept pulling the trigger and reloading and pulling some more", yet displays no sense of guilt for killing a fellow being.

ANALYSIS: THE THEME

The main thing is that war only brings harm to people. It is ironical how some view going to war as being heroic, but actually everyone loses their innocence when they carry guns and that is why war brings nothing but a living hell, further emphasizing that world peace is not as easy to attain as we thought it was.

Language & Diction

The command, "30 seconds they yelled, Lock N Load and grab your shit", among others, creates an overall fast paced effect, as if they were being rushed to fight the war, It builds up both tension and excitement in the poem. It gives the overall impression that the poet and his comrades are running and fighting for their lives. They were so afraid and unsettled, that they don't even dare to take off their boots when sleeping. This, being put as the title, further emphasizes the terror of war that the persona is experiencing.

The writer uses the line "baptized in fire" to show cruelty in a war. As we all know, baptism is a an act of being washed of sins and having hope for the future. However, in war, there is no water. It symbolizes that the poets sins of killing accumulated in war can never be washed and forgiven. This is further worsened through being baptized in fire as it fire and hell are closely liked and it is completely opposite of being baptized in water.

The repetition of the word "and" is also another feature of the poem: "I kept pulling the trigger and reloading and pulling some more ... Dirty and tired and hungry and scared". The constant use of "and", show how never-ending, dreary and tiring war is. The soldiers have to constantly do something in order to save their own lives. Personal Response to the Work

Personal Responce

Sometimes, war is inevitable. Even in this cases, war is a huge waste of resources. Huge amounts of materials are used to make tanks, guns and bullets. These are not the most important losses, the most important would be the loss of lives. Many soldiers have sacrificed their lives to keep their country alive, even those survivors would be scared in their hearts and brains. The memories of the war would always haunt them no matter how long it has passed. It might also leave a country in debt and would take a long time to rebuild.

However, war brings many goods as well, it is the prime time for development of war technologies as every country is pitted against oneself and they are constantly trying to outdo each other.

In conclusion, I think war brings more evil as the countless lives lost are not worth it.

Sources: http://www.warpoetry.co.uk/2010warpoetry.html#Slept

http://theintellectualmind.blogspot.com/2010/05/term-2-online-home-learning-poetry-we.html