1. Medium - a poem Theme – abruptness of life How – analyze its meaning on different yet interlocking levels

2. DEATH OF A BALL TURRET GUNNER by Randall Jarrell

3. Randall Jarrell – 1914 – 1956 Joined the Air Force 1942 Flight instructor Flew no combat missions Is not the speaker in the poem

4. Rotating Plexiglas bubble Machine gun bottom of the plane Ball Turret

5. Death of the Ball Turret Gunner 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 its 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.

6. Anti-war poem- Shortness of poem parallels gunner’s life Life means so little to the government Death of gunner impacts only his family

8. , From my mother's sleep I fell into the State Property of the government Denied a normal life growing up Innocence lost

9. Gunner Forced to leave the protection of home Awaits the inevitable moment Drafted – did not want to go Death - foreshadowed

10. And I hunched in its belly till my wet fur froze Gunner had to be – short, small, non claustrophobic No room for a parachute Wet fur – fur lined collar on flight jacket

11. Becoming “animal like” Unfeeling Scene of vulnerability

12. Gunner - Paranoid – fear, “I hunched in its belly…” Shock, realization of possible death Feels alone and abandoned

13. Six miles from earth, loosed from its dream of life Six miles – dreaming No future plans Life cut short

14. I woke to black flak and the nightmare fighters Woken from dream Enemy aircraft shooting at him Reality sets in

15. Born again – keener awareness No dreams of youths Nightmare of reality Promise of life stolen

16. When I died, They washed me out of the turret with a hose Nothing left of the gunner Steam-emitting hose cleaned up

17. State- impersonal, numb and destroys life Hose flushed out the turret Simplicity of the last line- matter of fact, no note of protest from family or friends Society- - indifference to the gunner

18. Gunner- no emotion towards his own death Death was inevitable “Died” not “Killed” – implied some commitment by the Gunner

19. What is the relevance of the poem today ? Can I view the poem at a different level with a different meaning?

20. DEATH OF THE BALL TURRET GUNNER An anti-abortion poem

21. Death of the Ball Turret Gunner 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 its 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.

22. Fetus Happy, content in the womb until it is destroyed All traces of existence - removed by a cruel act Viewed as unimportant and worthless by an indifferent institution

23. Over the course of the poem – pregnancy turns to abortion- unspoken theme of the poem “They” use a common method for washing out the remains of a fetus during an abortion just as the gunner had his mutilated body washed out of the turret

24. Ball turret – belly of the plane Once enclosed – assumed a fetal position Gunner being a fetus passing from mother’s womb to governmental womb

25. With the last line – poet forces us to rethink the whole poem “Why?” Doesn’t a person’s life matter? Human existence cannot be ‘washed out’ Life must hold a greater purpose for each of us