Comparing the attitude towards terroism in out of the blue and the right word
Comparing the attitudes towards terrorism in ‘Out of the Blue’ (Simon Armitage) and ‘The Right Word’ (Imtiaz Dharker)
The use of dramatic monologue allows Armitage to explore the thoughts and feelings of a victim of conflict. This extract comes from a much longer poem called ‘Out of the Blue’, commissioned by Channel 5 for the fifth anniversary of the bombing of the Twin Towers in 2001. The powerful TV images of the planes flying into the buildings, the subsequent fires and the collapse of the Towers captured the events, as they happened, for a stunned and horrified worldwide audience. Nearly 3000 people died in the attack, 67 of which were British. The title describes the perfectly blue skies of September 11th 2001, and the absolute suddenness and surprise of the attack. There is a sense that even in those skies, where nothing could be hidden, danger is lurking. In Stanza 1 there are direct quotes relating to the disaster. ‘You have picked me out’ this directly addresses the TV viewer / partner /reader, identifying the speaker in a specific context in relation to the video images, and establishing a particular relationship between speaker / victim and passive, powerless, horror-struck watcher. ‘a white cotton shirt is twirling, turning’. The use of ‘white’ is suggestive of innocence, peace or surrender. In Stanza 2 the speaker is introduced as very active(‘waving, waving’), but also with a sense of vulnerability (‘Small in the clouds’) and of his own plight and doom (‘a soul worth saving’) In Stanza 3 ‘So when will you come?’ This puts the reader put on the spot. ‘Do you think you are watching, watching / a man shaking crumbs / or pegging out washing?’ This invites us to consider our own response, to move beyond overwhelming and enthralling images and acknowledge the victims. In Stanza 4 ‘trying and trying’ the use of ‘and’ breaks pattern of poem and suggests determination. It considers the psychological impact of the situation, the burning building, on the
The use of dramatic monologue allows Armitage to explore the thoughts and feelings of a victim of conflict. This extract comes from a much longer poem called ‘Out of the Blue’, commissioned by Channel 5 for the fifth anniversary of the bombing of the Twin Towers in 2001. The powerful TV images of the planes flying into the buildings, the subsequent fires and the collapse of the Towers captured the events, as they happened, for a stunned and horrified worldwide audience. Nearly 3000 people died in the attack, 67 of which were British. The title describes the perfectly blue skies of September 11th 2001, and the absolute suddenness and surprise of the attack. There is a sense that even in those skies, where nothing could be hidden, danger is lurking. In Stanza 1 there are direct quotes relating to the disaster. ‘You have picked me out’ this directly addresses the TV viewer / partner /reader, identifying the speaker in a specific context in relation to the video images, and establishing a particular relationship between speaker / victim and passive, powerless, horror-struck watcher. ‘a white cotton shirt is twirling, turning’. The use of ‘white’ is suggestive of innocence, peace or surrender. In Stanza 2 the speaker is introduced as very active(‘waving, waving’), but also with a sense of vulnerability (‘Small in the clouds’) and of his own plight and doom (‘a soul worth saving’) In Stanza 3 ‘So when will you come?’ This puts the reader put on the spot. ‘Do you think you are watching, watching / a man shaking crumbs / or pegging out washing?’ This invites us to consider our own response, to move beyond overwhelming and enthralling images and acknowledge the victims. In Stanza 4 ‘trying and trying’ the use of ‘and’ breaks pattern of poem and suggests determination. It considers the psychological impact of the situation, the burning building, on the