The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner

The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner [1945]

Randall Jarrell (1914-1965)

From my mother's sleep I fell into the State,

And I hunched in its belly till my wet fur froze.

Six miles from earth, loosed from the dream of life,

I woke to black flak and the nightmare fighters.

When I died they washed me out of the turret with a hose.

Questions for Discussion

1. When the speaker says that he “fell into the State,” he means

A) he had protested the war and the involvement of the United States in it.

B) he was sleepwalking through life when the war began.

C) he was eager to join the army and defend his country.

D) he either joined or was drafted into the military.

2. A contrast with symbolic significance in the poem is

A) dream and nightmare.

B) hot and cold.

C) wet and dry.

D) light and dark.

3. The gunner in the ball turret is compared to

A) a victim in an accident.

B) a bull’s-eye on a target.

C) hunted prey that is trapped.

D) a fetus in the womb.