War photographer

Question 1

Overview of war photographer

Answer 1

A war photographer is developing the pictures he’s taken in war zones, and he’s re-living his experiences through the pictures.

Question 2

Main themes:

Answer 2

War, suffering, guilt, challenges, loss, sense of self

Question 3

Comparing poems

Answer 3

Prayer before birth, Hide and Seek, blessing

Question 4

Form:

Answer 4

rigid 4 stanzas of sestets and regular rhyme scheme evokes the consistent nature of war and the apathetic nature of society to suffering

Question 5

‘In his darkroom his is finally alone with spools of suffering set out in ordered rows’

Answer 5

Sets a melancholic tone and ‘darkroom’ with adverb ‘finally’ creates a sense of peacefulness + sense of relief as shielded from the horrors of war - his isolation allows for reflection of his experiences. Sibilance and metaphor ‘spools of suffering’ adds to the never-ending and relentless nature of war, and contrasts with the peace in the ‘darkroom’ - he is never safe from what he’s experienced. ‘ordered rows’ are a contrast to the chaos of war, perhaps alluding to the mass graveyards and memorials so Duffy critiques on the outcomes of war.

Question 6

‘preparing to intone a Mass. Belfast. Beruit. Phnom Pehn. All flesh is grass’

Answer 6

Religious connotations and ‘Mass’ shows the respect for the dead. Biblical allusion ‘all flesh is grass’ highlights how war inevitably leads to death, showing how bodies are forgotten and always return to the Earth. List of cities are former war zones and the use of plosives ‘b’ is mimetic of bombing.

Question 7

‘Rural England. Home again to ordinary pain…which don’t explode beneath the feet of running children in a nightmare heat’

Answer 7

Casuera ‘Rural England’ is juxtaposing his ‘home’ with children in war zones. Oxymoron ‘ordinary pain’ is ironic as normal things like the weather seem to be painful, while in war zones, children are faced with the threat of the ground ‘exploding beneath their feat’ -highlights how insignificant the troubles in the western world are. Allusion to the Napalm girl through the metaphor ‘nightmare heat’ shows how they’re the epitome of suffering and Duffy highlights how badly children are affected in war, and therefore always seem to be the unintended victims of war.

Question 8

‘something is happening. A stranger’s features..a half-formed ghost’

Answer 8

Present participle ‘ing’ suggests how suffering is continuous. Pictures are beginning to form of a ‘stranger’ - shows the lack of emotional connectivity and how war photographer’s are forced to remain professional. Metaphor ‘half-formed ghost’ shows the reality of many. The picture is literally only half formed but may infer how people in war zones are so close to death the seem ‘half-formed’.

Question 9

‘what someone must and how the blood stained into foreign dust’

Answer 9

modal ‘must’ evokes how photographers must remain passive in situations, in order to report and bring awareness to these situations. Imagery ‘blood stained into foreign dust’ may reference how soldiers die on the battlefield in ‘foreign’ areas not their homeland. However, lexis of ‘foreign’ may evoke how the suffering is ‘foreign’ to the western world, and therefore causes their apathetic reaction - not directly impacted. Duffy suggests that war and death shouldn’t be normal anywhere, despite how ‘foreign’ it may be.

Question 10

‘A hundred agonies…from which his editor will pick out five or six’

Answer 10

Contrast of numerical values suggests the extent and overwhelming sense of suffering in war zones is censored/barely covered in media. Duffy shows the injustice and the invisibility of the people impacted in war and critiques how society is so desensitized.

Question 11

‘the reader’s eyeballs prick with tears…they do not care’

Answer 11

Verb ‘prick’ illustrates the quick and unemotional response society has to suffering. Highlights the contrast between two different worlds. ‘they do not care’ shows the lack of interest and how society is so desensitized, allowing Duffy to bring attention to the apathy.