The Death Of The Ball Turret Gunner Explained
Randall jarrell s poem the death of the ball turret gunner can be found in many anthologies and is his most well known work published in 1945 it drew directly from his own involvement with military aircraft and airmen during ww2.
The death of the ball turret gunner explained. The death of the ball turret gunner is a fantastic example of what poetry is capable of. The death of the ball turret gunner from my mother s sleep i fell into the state from my mother s sleep i fell into the state the academy of american poets is the largest membership based nonprofit organization fostering an appreciation for contemporary poetry and supporting american poets. The death of the ball turret gunner by randall jarrell is a poem that speaks of both the roughness of war and sometimes the all too real worthlessness of life. It is about the death of a gunner in a sperry ball turret on a world war ii american bomber aircraft.
He is a gunner in the air force positioned in a ball turret housed in the belly of a b 17. In the end the gunner s corpse is removed and the turret cleaned with what seems like little regard for his death. The death of the ball turret gunner is a conceit or extended metaphor. And second it isn t going to be a unicorns and rainbows kind of poem.
Enotes plot summaries cover all the significant action of the death of the ball turret gunner. In a note jarrell explained that a ball turret is. Upon squeezing into this plexiglas dome the gunner has little or no room to maneuver. Think of it this way.
A plexiglass sphere set into the belly of a b 17 or b 24 and inhabited by two 50 caliber machine guns and one man a short small man this man the gunner crouches in this tight freezing cold space and engages enemy planes in combat. If you had to write something in prose dealing with the complexity and emotion of big subjects like life death and war it would take you way more than 5 sentences to get it done. From my mother s sleep i fell into the state and i hunched in its belly till my wet fur froze. The ball turret was a feature of the bomber aircraft a b 17 or b 24 made of plexiglass and set into the belly of the plane.
The death of the ball turret gunner by randall jarrell is a frightening poem about a soldier that dies in action during world war 2. The death of the ball turret gunner is a five line poem by randall jarrell published in 1945. Complete summary of randall jarrell s the death of the ball turret gunner. A ball turret gunner is one of the most dangerous jobs of any airborne crew member.