Hi!
Can someone please give this a grade with improvement points. I doubt my teacher would mark this.
Both Hughes and Garland uses the the reality of war to present the negative effects of war. Bayonet Charge starts "in media res" and commences 'suddenly' which plunges the reader into action immediately and shows how unpredictable and restless war is - anything could happen. The poem is full of present participles such as 'running ... hearing ... stumbling .... smacking' which provides augments the fast pace yet presents the soldier as being vulnerable and confused as there is so much action in each stanza. Hughes' tricolon 'king, honour, dignity' which were concepts used in propaganda to promote joining the army is in the form of a list to effectively convey the narrator does not consider these important anymore.
Similarly, Garland explores the idea of propaganda in the form of 'powerful incantation'. The Kamikaze Propaganda used the idea of shame which was important in Ancient Samurai Philosophy to recruit soldiers. Nonetheless, nature disilludes the father from the lies of propaganda as he sees vivid images stretching through the senses such as the 'grene blue tranluscent sea' and 'featheyr prawns'. However, instead of just focusing this aspect on the soldier like Hughes , Garland also focused on the family. After the father's return only 'the children still chattered and laughed/ until we too learnt to be silent'. This shows how the Father's rejection of convention led him to become ostracised. The verb 'learnt' is interesting here because it implies these children have been indoctrinated with these values of society and have not rejected them like the father. Ultimately, Garland conveys how the false representation of war tears a family apart. compounded with the regretful tone of the daughter for alienating her father when she asks 'which was the better way to die' thus presenting the poem as a method of seeking closure.
Both Hughes and Garland also explore the loss of individuality caused by war. The speaker in Bayonet Charge 'runs towards the green hadge dazzled with fire'. This visual image is reminscient of danger yet the soldier runs towards it highlighting how soldiers are brainwashed to do actions which are unnatural to do. The use of imagery when Hughes decsribes the soldier as being part of 'clockwork' and 'the hand pointing the second' implies the soldier feels as if he has lost his free will and is a mere component in something much larger. The absence of control connotations of entrapment which could be shown by the first and last stanzas having eight lines and the middle stanza having only seven. The smaller middle stanza could represent the soldier and the bigger stanzas authority. Perhaps, Hughes is trying to draw on the concept of authority programming soldiers in war. This is augmented by the clear sense of conflusion throughout the poem. The enjambment and uneven line and stanza lengths presents a hectic form which highlights the chaos in war.
Similarly, Garland's visual image of the shaven head may allude to a branch of Hindu philosophy where people shaved their hdeads to rid themselves of any Earthly desire. Thus, the symbol of the 'shaven head' is glorifying because it shows how noble and selfless the soldiers were. Nonetheless, the image of multiple soldiers with shaven heads presents thems as all looking very similar or identical which may present a loss of individuality. Yet, even after war, the father ha slost his identity through ostracisation. He was 'no longer the father we loves' simply for failing to complete his mission. This use of emotive language makes the reader sympathise with the father because it is a clar representation of his social exclusion.