5.1.2

Themes

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Contrast: Home and Away

The contrast between the comfortable and safe lives of those in countries unaffected by war, and the indescribable horror of those living in war-torn countries is a running theme throughout the poem.

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Images of pain

  • “Running children in a nightmare heat”
  • “Cries of this man’s wife”
  • “Blood-stained”
  • “Fields which don’t explode beneath the feet”
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Images of comfort

  • “Rural England”
  • “Ordinary pain which simple weather can dispel”
  • “Sunday supplement”
  • “Eyeball’s prick with tears between the bath and pre-lunch beers”.

Uncaring Attitudes

One of the biggest contrasts in the poem is the uncaring attitude of people at home compared to the terrible suffering going on in war.

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Characters

  • The editor in the poem and those who browse the images on a Sunday morning represent these uncaring attitudes.
  • They represent the lack of empathy or thought that some people have for those affected by war.
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Caesura/one-word sentences

  • “Belfast. Beirut. Phnom Penh.”
  • These one-word sentences/caesura (breaks in the line) give the poem a stop-start feel.
  • This could reflect the casual and dismissive tone of those unaffected by suffering.

Role of a War Photographer

Carol Ann Duffy uses War Photographer to explore the complex and potentially controversial role of a war photographer. A war photographer is close to horrific events but can do nothing to help.

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Practical approach to work

  • The poem has a generally neat and ordered form on the page.
  • This could mimic the way war photographers have to have a practical, emotionless approach to their work as they face the chaos of war.
  • It could also signify the photographer’s serious and careful approach to his work.
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Relief

  • The opening phrase “finally alone” indicates a sense of relief. The photographer is able to separate himself from what he has seen and begin to process it.
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Horrific events

  • Carol Ann Duffy lets us see the horrors of war through the war photographer.
  • “Belfast. Beirut. Phnom Penh.”
    • The caesura (breaks in the line) and one-word sentences could reflect the photographer slowly considering each country suffering from war and respecting them.

Jump to other topics

1Ozymandias - Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822)

2London - William Blake (1757-1827)

3Storm on the Island - Seamus Heaney (1939-2013)

4Exposure - Wilfred Owen (1893-1918)

5War Photographer - Carol Ann Duffy (born 1955)

6My Last Duchess - Robert Browning (1812-1889)

7The Prelude - William Wordsworth (1770-1850)

8Charge of the Light Brigade - Alfred Tennyson

9Bayonet Charge - Ted Hughes (1930-1998)

10Poppies - Jane Weir (Born 1963)

11Tissue - Imtiaz Dharker (Born 1954)

12The Emigree - Carol Rumens (Born 1944)

13Kamikaze - Beatrice Garland (Born 1938)

14Checking Out Me History - John Agard (Born 1949)

15Remains - Simon Armitage (Born 1963)

16Grade 9 - Themes & Comparisons

16.1Grade 9 - Themes & Comparisons

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