The two literary works, Randall Jarell's “The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner” and Russell Banks' “Black Man and White Woman in Dark Green Boat”, presents a mode of literature that is different from the usual norms.The poem and short story goes deep in their plots, moving away from the superficial genres of literature and dwells into critical thinking and analysis. From reading the two literary works, the reader would have to bask in deep thought to try to analyze the situations being presented and give his or her own interpretation and meaning for each literary piece.
In Randall Jarell's poem “The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner”, one can see the complexities involved between each line. The author's belief towards war was evident in the first line, as it says:From my mother's sleep, I fell into the state (Jarrell)The mother that Jarell was referring to symbolized the ball turrent gunner as merely a child, hanging on to her mother grasp of security. There is no better comfort than the caring arms of one's mother, and whether you are a mere child or a soldier at war, it is that comfort that we long for in times of hardship and pain. As a child, one recognizes the mother as his or her world, a blanket of protection that shields one from the harm.The line “I fell into the state” indicates how oftentimes, soldiers are called out to war against their will, as it is part of ther duty to serve the 'state'.
It also describes how the ball turrent gunner was taken from his mother's sleep; being cared for so lovingly then suddenly pulled away with little or no remorse.The second line from the poem shows how the ball turrent gunner felt after being taken by the 'state'. It says:And I hunched in its belly till my wet fur froze. (Jarrell)Such is the feeling of the ball turrent gunner after being taken away from the comfort of the mother's sleep. As Richard Fein would describe it:The gunner wakes only to know that he exists only to be a victim. The compressed demarcation of stages of existence in the poem transforms the life of the ball turret gunner into an assembly line product.
From the beginning he is moulded for only one purpose, and all that happens to him is for this public usefulness. His consumption by the war is a fate familiar in Jarrell’s poetry where individuals are inevitably destroyed in the public maw. (Fein 157-158)The poem also showed the contrasting elements of life and death. From the ball turrent gunner's 'dream of life', the gunner 'woke to black flak and the nightmare soldiers', which inevitably led to his death, as described in the last line:When I died they washed me out of the turret with a hose. (Jarrell)Just as quickly as the gunner awoke from his 'dream of life', his life was ended. And as quickly and easily as he was taken from his mother's sleep, upon his death he was disposed of just as easily.
Devoid of any emotion or sympathy, the 'state' that has taken the ball turrent gunner rids of his body, as how one would wash away dirt from a gutter.The poem expresses a distaste for how soldiers are treated by the 'state' in the field of war. Without warning, they are called into battle, with no consideration whatsoever to the the life they would be leaving behind. And when their life is ended in battle, they are quickly disposed and often forgotten, with the state focusing only on moving forward with its motives.It is tragic that the very soliders that fight for the state are treated poorly in return.
The short story “Black Man and White Woman in Dark Green Boat” discusses different issues. Here several socially relevant issues are brought up, issues that have existed for years and still continue to exist up to this very day. The story aims to bring these issues out in the open so that discussion would be done on how to tackle and solve these issues.
