Kamikaze – GCSE English Literature AQA Revision

Poet

BEATRICE GARLAND

In Japan, during World War II, Kamikaze pilots were expected to carry out suicide missions.
They would use their weapons to fight and then fly directly into the warships of the opposition.
It was deemed honourable to sacrifice your life for your country.

The speaker is relaying the situation with her father to her own children.
It becomes a morality tale about how to treat people, especially those in your family.
A Kamikaze pilot is on a mission to sacrifice his life for the country.
Whilst flying he is reminded of reasons why he should stay alive; through memories and nature.
He returns home but is shunned by all those close to him.
His wife and the community regard him a defector; they would have rather he died in honour of the country.
The pilot’s children are conditioned by peer pressure and too stop loving their father.