The Death Of The Bal Turrett Gunner
The Death of the Ball Turrett Gunner is a five lined poem that is one of the most powerful war poems written in such a short stanza. Jarrell’s use of bold imagery, a blunt and childish tone creates a deep and critical analysis of our “State.” The mentality and the state of the speaker is clear, and it makes the poem very clear in the interpretation (1). Jarrell has succeeded in using imagery, tone, and style to affect the interpretation of his short, but powerful poem.
Although this poem is short, it does not fail to create bold, powerful, and meaningful imagery. The first line, “From my mother’s sleep I fell into the State,” creates an image of ones entire life flash into view, and it is a short one. It is only one line, but it means a lot. One sees the womb; a safe and calm environment. The next image seen is a man falling “into the state.” He is still too young to fight. He is innocent and lost. He is really a child. Men do not “fall” into a situation, they find one. The speaker obviously is not a man in mentality. The image moves on from a calm and safe setting to a cold and lonely “state.” The second line, “And I hunched…” creates only one image, although it is still a bold one. The speaker is seen hunching in the belly of a huge, dark machine (Meyer 812). He is waiting like a fetus to see light after birth. One then begins to see the big womb begin to ascend, as the man’s “wet fur” freezes with the increasing altitude and dropping temperature (1). The speaker reaches the point “six miles from earth” and the image shown is of a dark night far away from home. It was calm and steady until he wakes to “black flack and nightmare fighters.” One is shocked, and a dark cloud overwhelms the senses. It is as visually powerful as a thunderstorm. Bullets, explosions, and death are everywhere. Dark and evil appear and disappear at random. Finally, the speaker is calmed again. All that is left to see is a plane that has...
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