Brian Turner’s “The Hurt Locker”, is a poem about the Iraqi war and the suffering the soldiers face there. It depicts the real suffering felt by soldiers, not just in this war but in any and every war. It is something that should be taken seriously, and not taken lightly. It is not like the video games make it seem, it is rough, deadly and scary. In real life though, you do not get a redo, there are no extra lives. When you break down the elements of the poem, they give the poem much more meaning to it. From the rhyme scheme, the imagery, his way with words, assonance and even the form of his poetry. This all contributes to the poem’s overall tone, and theme. Without these key elements, the poem would be severely …show more content…
It shows child soldiers using grenades, snipers shooting at soldiers who cannot see them and assailants disguised as civilians and then opening fire on unsuspecting soldiers. It shows the real hell that war is when he talks about the moaning and cussing of the wounded and dying. He does not try to hide the reality of war.
The rhyme scheme is not end rhyme, like most poetry, but it is internal according to Lori Freshwater (Freshwater). She also makes the statement, “This seems to be the right decision by the poet, because this is not a song, this is instead a statement of the strongest kind.” This statement is valid because with this choice of rhyme scheme he conveys a sense of seriousness that otherwise would have been missed.
His way with words affect the poem by telling the readers what is there and what is missing in the Hurt Locker. He conveys this point when he says in the first line “Nothing but the hurt left here” (Turner), conveys that nothing good is left, no joy, no excitement, nothing but hurt and everything that goes along with it. His imagery affects the poem by showing the readers the truth behind war, child soldiers, and assailants disguised as civilians, and snipers ready to shoot at anything they can see. War is an ugly, messy, pain filled Hurt Locker. He does sugar coat war, he shows the harsh reality of it all from a poetic standpoint, which is nonetheless cruel and …show more content…
All of these elements make up the tone of the poem. The form of his poetry affects the tone of the poem by writing in free verse which gives him freedom to fire his words like bullets in a war zone (Freshwater). His poem is two irregular stanzas, the first server to show the reader what is not there by saying what is. He says “Nothing but hurt left here/Nothing but bullets and pain”, he does not try to water down the immense pain felt by the brave soldiers there in the Hurt Locker, instead he illustrates it so well that the reader feels like they themselves are in the Hurt