Task 1
The author of this poem, "Rainbow Death", was Hubert Wilson. He served as a Ssgt USAF from 1968 to 1972.
Information about Hubert Wilson
He was a Vietnam War veteran who served in the USAF Security Service. Along with a dozen or so intelligence school graduates, he prepped for about 14 months at Kelly AFB in San Antonio, Texas, before anticipating being sent to Vietnam or elsewhere in southeat Asia in 1970. About half ended up in Da Nang (an Agent Orange hotspot) in the 6924th Security Squadron. The rest of them were assigned to Shemya Island, Alaska, with the 6984th Security Squadron, and what eventually was a more contaminated environment than Da Nang.
Hubert's health problems started approximately 15 years ago with unexplained headaches and limb pains. Four years ago his central nervous system radically deteriorated with Parkinsonian type tremors, severe headaches, progressive limb pains, etc. No physician has ever diagnosed the specific illness. No physician has ever rendered any medical assistance. The symptoms were probably due to the heavily contaminated drinking water at Shemya during Hubert's year there as an intelligence analyst. Organo-phosphate toxins may not run their toxic course until 20 to 30 years after initial exposure. Since his brain still functions moderately well, and he has mobility issues, he turned to writing just like his late father and late singer(and writer)Johnny Cash.
Reason for writing this poem
This short poem speaks of a modern day ingredient of warfare that has caused appalling death and suffering, not only to its intended victims, the Vietnamese people, but also the service personnel that used or even just came into contact with “Agent Orange”. It was reported by Wikipedia, “Agent Orange is the code name for a herbicide and defoliant—contaminated with TCDD—used by the U.S. military in its Herbicidal Warfare program during the Vietnam War. According to Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 4.8 million Vietnamese people were exposed to Agent Orange, resulting in 400,000 deaths and disabilities and 500,000 children born with birth defects.
From 1962 to 1971, Agent Orange was by far the most widely used of the so-called "Rainbow Herbicides" employed in the herbicidal warfare program. During the production of Agent Orange, dioxins were produced as a contaminant, which have caused numerous health problems for the millions of people who have been exposed to them. Agents Blue and White were part of the same program but did not contain dioxins.” This poem would remind us that wars aren’t over when the wars are over.
Task 2
Rainbow Death
America did not foresee
Green, pink, purple and other colors death potpourri!
Expecting others to pay a high price.
Now thinking twice?
Toll on the innocent and unborn.
Omnipotent and disregarding who will mourn.
Reflective about all the illness, birth defects and prematurely dead.
All the deceit continues to spread.
Nefariously America led astray -
Generations untold WILL pay -
Execrable effects of agent orange spray! By Hubert Wilson
1. Point of View
Point - Dramatic tone of the speaker
Evidence - "Green, pink, purple and other colors death potpourri!" and "Generations untold WILL pay"
Elaboration - "...other colors death potpourri" suggests that the writer feels that the presence of all the different agent colors will simply lead to more deaths, thus the "death potpourri". Also, "Generations untold will pay" explains future generations that are unrelated to the current war affairs will be "untold" but instead, they would have to pay for what had been done in the past.
Point - "Pro-life attitude" of the writer
Evidence - "Toll on the innocent and unborn."
Elaboration - The writer feels that war itself actually punishes more than what it should. Apart from just soldiers whose lifes are sacrificed in war, the innocent people and unborn foetus were killed in war. This expresses how the writer emphathises with such innocent beings, thus the pro-life attitude.
2. Situation and Setting
Point - Emotional conflict of the writer
Evidence - "Toll on the innocent and unborn."
Elaboration - As the writer talks about the negative impacts of war, he relates to the depression of the people who are innocently killed in the midst of war. As such, emotional conflicts is conveyed through harsh words like "toll".
Point - Setting of the cruelty of war
Evidence - "Expecting others to pay a high price"
Elaboration - The third line of the poem states of the people to have to pay a high price for war. "High price" would suggest that the presence of war would most probably require sacrifices and even deaths.
3. Language/Diction
Point - Death in war is large-scale
Evidence - "potpourri"
Elaboration - The word "potpourri" suggests the meaning of combination or a mixture of subjects. In this case, "potpourri" would mean the combination of many deaths due to war.
Point - Sacrificial of lives in war
Evidence - "toll"
Elaboration - The "toll" used in this context refers to the death of the people involved. Also, it depicts the negative expressions of the people involved in war. War is like a "toll" that would cease to bring sufferings to everyone.
4. Personal Response
From this poem, what I feel is very similar to the poet. War is unjustified, harsh, and it causes deaths. In a war, many lives apart from those rightfully involved are sacrificed too. This includes mothers, children and even foetuses. One bomb in a village can kill every innocent being living there, and death is fatal and instant. This certainly isn't justifiable. What did these people do wrong? When were they related to war? Thus, I share the same sentiments as the poet in this poem of "Rainbow Death"
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