Birdsong Quotes

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  • Created by: niamhxoxo
  • Created on: 23-04-15 12:58
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  • Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
    • Ellis is “frightened” by Weir’s “dishevelled appearance”.
      • Derogatory word “dishevelled” shows Weir’s unkempt form
        • Highlights how Ellis is naïve to the effects of the reality of war as Weir behaves in an unheroic way.
          • Lack of understanding is furthered as he was unable to comprehend the “relationship” between Stephen and Weir
    • “Ellis had been killed by machine gun fire”
      • Blunt short sentence
      • Insignificance of his death as he is just another soldier who was unable to survive the effects of mechanical warfare.
    • Fight for “your families, for your King and your country”.
      • Triplet
      • Patriotism
      • Belief of winning
      • Foolish optimism
    • “Colonel’s dead”
      • Short sharp blunt sentence
      • Harsh reality of war
    • The men are “smashed by bullets” and Stephen is seen “hunched like an old woman in the cocoon of tearing noise”.
      • "smashed"
        • Powerful destruction
      • Simile
        • Ironic
          • Demonstrates Stephen's vulnerability and weakness as a "cocoon" is designed for protection
            • But there is no protection from the violence of the onslaught
    • “humps of khaki”
      • Metaphor
      • Loss of identity
      • Only identified by their uniform
    • “like raving women…dying in ripples”
      • Simile
      • "ripples"
        • Number of dead are forever increasing
    • “Part of [a sleeping boy’s] intestine slopped out” which “the sun began to bake”.
      • Violence and physical effects associated with mechanical warfare
    • Soldiers appear as "packets of lives"
      • "packets" - men considered as indisposable
    • "We are fighting for our country"
      • "We" - pronoun - unity, comradeship
    • Toad and harvest is "champion"
      • Distant and detachment from Weir
      • Son is real hero
      • Repetition of "champion"
        • Complacency
        • Lack on interest
    • Gas Attack Victim
      • "Both of his eyes were oozing"
        • Graphic
          • "yellow froth from his lips"
      • "peeled the boy's clothes from him" & "used a knife tro cut them off the flesh"
        • Morals have been cut away by war
      • "yellow froth from his lips"
      • Nurse "stood back and turned her face to the heavens" & she "burst into shuddering tears"
        • Pity for boy
        • Compassion
        • Nurses matrenal instincts
      • "skin of huis cheeks and forehead were marked with bluish-violet patches"
        • Colour
        • Brutal

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