Why Soldiers Don't Talk
What tone does the author have throughout the text?
Detached, clinical, and slightly scientific, thoughtful
How does Jarrell’s use of understatement heighten the poem’s emotional and rhetorical impact?
This quiet, matter-of-fact tone makes readers feel the shock more deeply, because the lack of emotion contrasts with the tragedy being described.
what is the tone of the opening passage?
Defensive and confrontational
When Steinbeck says “their minds rake over the days, and the unconscious is set loose,” what is he doing with that language?
He’s personifying the mind to show how it works on its own after war.
Why might Jarrell have chosen to make the tone detached and factual rather than emotional or sympathetic?
Jarrell uses a detached and factual tone to mirror how the nation treats its soldiers: expendable and object-like. Removing the emotional aspect forces the reader to view the militaristic actions as cold, rather than heroic.
How does O’Brien’s use of first-person perspective function rhetorically?
He establishes his character and his confession draws the reader into his internal conflict and credibility as a witness.
What is the reason for the shift in POV?
To make it more personal
How does Jarrell use the metaphor of birth and the womb to comment on war and the State’s treatment of soldiers?
Jarrell's use of the birth and womb metaphor reveals the cold, industrial treatment of soldiers and that in war, the state usurps the maternal role and reverses it.
What kind of effect does the reflective tone of the passage create?
The conversation with his daughter contrasts innocence and trauma through a vulnerable conversation, exploring how war memories shape the psyche.
Why does Steinbeck use scientific words like “nervous system” and “protective mechanisms”?
to logically explain how war and trauma affects soldiers in both physically and psychologically
What effect does the poem’s final image—“washed me out of the turret with a hose”—have on the reader?
It shocks the reader due to the fact that it’s flat and procedural.
What is the purpose of O’Brien’s description of him throwing the bomb?
Reveal the narrator’s psychological trauma, moral conflict, and to humanize the “enemy” rather than glorify violence.
What type of imagery does Steinbeck use and what does the use of imagery help show the audience?
intense and descriptive imagery
How does the poem invite the reader to respond morally or emotionally to the gunner’s death?
The poem invites a moral and emotional response by showing with little more than a clinical tone.
The repeated idea “I didn’t hate him” best reveals the narrator’s what?
Attempt to rationalize his guilt for the kill and refute the belief of its necessity