Blog 6 CA
Yusef Komunyakaa's " Dien Cai Dau" carries a big importance between the Vietnam War literature by using a form of literature that has hardly been used while reffering to the war; poetry. This literary device might not be as descriptive or detailed as the dozens of novels that successfully analyze the war, however it introduces the emotion and vivid interpretation of the war as a completely new concept.
Yusef Komunyakaa has used symbolism, connotation, and vivid memories to represent his emotions and memories of war. His use of the nature and his constant comparison of the war and the individuals to nature, show the reader the influence of wildlife in the life in vietnam.
In his poem " You and I Are Disappearing", Yusef Komunyakaa describes the travma that is whitnessed by every individual in the war. The horryfying sight of a girl burning to death, and its affect to the narrator are described by metaphors and alliteration. We can see how one action is described in dozens of different ways: " She burns like oil on water", " She burns like a cattail torch.". The countless times that the girls burning is describes, shows the reader how deaply the narrator was affected by this happening and how war really scars most for life.
In his poem " We Never Know", the poet describes the death of one of his fellow soldiers. The catcy part of this poem however is not the death of a soldier, it is the way the poet describes his death; the connotation that is used. Words like " danced with tall grass, like he was swaying with a woman", and " turned him over, so he wouldn't be kissing the ground." do not necessarily convey a death, but peaceful actions.
"Toys in a Field" on the other hand analyzes a social aspect of war, its affect on children. It evaluates how vietnamese children get used to play with aggression and with war all around them. How these little minds have to imagine a peaceful world in order to neglect the hatred that surrounds them.
All in all, we can say that Yusef Komunyakaa, uses symbolism, connotation, and vivid memories to represent his emotions and memories of war. He does so by analyzing different situations he had to face, and vividly describes war to the readers.