Naming of Parts: A Soldier's F
Many soldiers understand that their particular occupation means that a time could come when they would have to give up their life for their country. The thoughts of one particular soldier are provided in the poem, "Naming of Parts" by Henry Reed. As the instructor lectures his soldiers about the different parts of a weapon -- a tool of war created to cause death, the listening soldier envisions elements of nature that are life giving. Reed uses structure, connotation, and imagery to compare the parts of a weapon with elements of nature in order to show how one particular soldier thinks about life and living things when confronted with the thought of his own mortality. The title, "Naming of Parts", has special significance in that the parts of a weapon are not entirely what the poem is about. Although the instructor tells the students they will be learning the names of different parts of their rifle, the soldier is half-heartedly listening as he daydreams about "Japonica/[which] Glistens like coral (4,5). The flower's name has a very musical sound to it, the assonance of each syllable is soft and offers a very feminine connotation. Because Japonica have red petals, and because they are shimmering like coral, it implies that
The pollination of flowers can be likened to a man impregnating a woman, as both bring about new life. the young man is actually thinking of a woman's full lips. Although war is something we must deal with forever, it is comforting to know that life will still go on. As the soldier envisions a woman with swaying hips in his mind, he reminds himself that "The branches/Hold in the gardens their silent, eloquent gestures,/Which in our case we have not got" (10-12). The phallic symbolism of the bolt becomes more evident when the instructor repeats the action of the bolt as it moves "rapidly backwards and forwards" (21). War results in the loss of life whereas procreation results in new birth. In addition to the comparison of the movement between the bolt of the rifle and the flitting of bees, the fourth stanza also reflects the differences between the laws of nature and the laws of war. Because the young soldier is inexperienced, he is probably a virgin and can only imagine what it would be like to make love with a woman. Since the flower is cultivated in Japan, he could be fantasizing about a Japanese woman, which is supported in line 28 when he mentions the "almond-blossom", the "almond" being the shape of the woman's eyes. The soldier knows and admits that he is not eloquent, as he is just a young man, inexperienced in the ways of the world. The recruit echoes his instructor's words: "rapidly backwards and forwards" (22), as he describes the "early bees [. Because the soldier describes this action as "fumbling" however, the reader is presented with the image of man who is groping awkwardly, as though he is clueless as to which action to take next, implying that the young soldier is most probably a virgin, but would rather think about making love than war. The fact that the instructor does not capitalize the word "spring", but his listening student does, suggest that the soldier has a deep respect for nature and finds himself at odds with the instruction he is receiving.
Common topics in this essay:
Japonica/which Glistens,
Henry Reed,
,
backwards forwards,
soldier envisions,
rapidly backwards forwards,
echoes instructor's words,
rapidly backwards,
probably virgin,
particular soldier,
elements nature,
echoes instructor's,
instructor's words,
listening soldier,
|
Acceptance Essays
