The poem, Suicide Note is about a young girl, a student in this case who commits suicide because she thinks life events particularly in terms of academics did not go her way. The Suicide note she leaves behind in the form of a poem therefore is a tool that she uses to address her reasons for committing suicide. On the other hand though, is a poem entitled, the death of the ball turret gunner. This poem depicts the author as the mourner of his own death. Besides, being let go by his mother, the poet is a core critique of the effects of a devastating and turbulent war. In this poet, the poet embraces the use of imagery such as abortion to an extent that expresses the author has never been born. This paper therefore seeks to critically look at as well as analyze the similarities and differences as presented in the two poems.
The two poems have a number of issues in common. This section will focus on a number of similarities as put forth by the two poets. The first similarity is the theme. Both themes talk about the death of the poets. Suicide note already depicts a note the poet writes and leaves prior her death. It is in this not that she expresses the reasons for her death. On the other hand, in the short poem entitled, the death of ball turret Gunner. The poet, masculine in this case talks about death as a result of devastating warfare between the nation states or an organized group of people. In this case, the poet uses the word state to function as a metaphor. Therefore, the theme death is a common occurrence in the two poems.
The second similarity is that, in both the first and the second poems, both poets have parents. In the Suicide note, the author commits suicide because apart from disappointing herself, she feels that she has disappointed her parents more. She consistently and repeatedly uses the phrases not smart enough, not pretty enough as well as not good enough to show that not even her parents thought of her as having the above values. The result was that she suffered a low self esteem and she eventually decided to commit suicide. In the poem entitled the death of the ball turret gunner. The poet uses the word mother to function as a metaphor. It represents several kinds of mothers. First is the biological mother of the poet. Second is God and finally is the mother in the universe. Overall, mother is used to depict a life giver. Therefore, both the first and the second poet have parents.
A third similarity is that in both the poems, the characters are already dead. In the Suicide Note, the reader is reading a poem in form a note that the girl leaves behind prior her death. This note has the end objective of communicating to the parents and all the concerned parties about the cause of the author’s death. In the second poem, it is clear that the reader is listening to an already nonexistent guy. This is evident in the last line when the poet says, “When I died they washed me out of the turret with a hose”. This depicts a picture of the poet’s remains as being cleaned out of turret with a hose. Therefore both poets are dead in the first and second poems.
Both poems embrace the use of metaphors, the first poet uses the sparrow as a metaphor to imply a stronger self whereas the second poet uses the word mother as metaphor to imply the life giver. Therefore the use of metaphorical words is a common occurrence in the two poems.
A final similarity is that both the poets want to keep living but circumstances in life do not allow this to happen. In the first poem, the girl would like to keep living but gives up simply because she thinks that she cannot meet the standards she has set for herself. In the second poem the poet would like to keep living but the devastating events of warfare become a big obstacle for him to live.
The two poems however have a number of differences. These differences are discussed below in reference to the above. The first difference is that, In the Suicide Note, the poet dies as a result of committing suicide whereas the second poet dies as a result of war. This implies that the first death is self induced by the author herself whereas the death of the second poet is as a result of turbulent times in terms of warfare that he experiences is a result of his external environment. Therefore it is evident that the two poets face two distinct causes.
The second difference, although quite similar to the first difference is the fact that the first author attributes her cause of death to despair and giving up as a result of life events. On the other hand, the second author attributes his death to war events.
The other difference is that, the poet in the suicide note wishes she was born male. According to her, the male child is better equipped to deal with the challenges he faces in life. This aspect thus makes the suicidal girl to suffer from a state of inferiority complex. In the second poem, the author is male and determined to survive. This illustration is on the second line “And I hunched in its belly till my wet fur froze”. This shows that despite the author’s age and the fear he faces, he is determined to keep living. Therefore, the difference is that the first poet wishes she was born male whereas the second author is actually male and this eventually affects the way the two of them view negative situations.
The other difference is that, the first author is actually under control of her parents and she is the one deviating and getting away from them due to the events of life. On the other hand, the second poet is left by his parent. The second poet reinforces this by the line that states, “From my mother’s sleep I fell into the State”. This illustrates that the mother being unaware, does not notice that the speaker has fallen. The difference is that whereas the first author departs voluntarily from her parents, the second author involuntarily falls into the state.
The final difference is that the first poet is pessimistic in life and sees no chance of improvement in future. This is further reinforced by the repetition of the phrase “not good enough not strong enough not smart enough”. The poet in the second poem sees a better future despite the hostile warlike condition.” And I hunched in its belly till my wet fur froze” shows the determination and optimism in the second poet.
The two poems have a number of similarities as well as differences. The two poems talk about death, therefore death is a common occurrence in both of them. The second similarity is that both poets have parents. The first poet has both whereas the second poet mentions the mother as being his only parent. Both poems are written by poets who are nonexistent in this life. The first poem is a suicide note whereas the second poem is written by a nonexistent person, “When I died they washed me out of the turret with a hose”. The first and the second poem also embrace the use of metaphorical words like sparrow in the first poem and mother in the second poem. Both poets also want to keep living despite their conditions but the first poet consequently gives up.
The two poems also have a number of differences. The first poet dies as a result of suicide whereas the second dies as a result of war. The first author wishes she was born male while the second author was actually born male. The other difference is that the first author is distancing herself from the parents whereas the second author involuntarily separated from his mother. The final difference is that the first poet sees no hope whereas the second author sees hope in the midst of warfare. Therefore the first poet is a pessimist where as the second poet is an optimist.
