The Gift in Wartime (translated by Vann Phan)
About the author
· Tran Mong Tu was born and grown up in Hai Dong, North Vietnam in 1943. She worked for Associated Press in South Vietnam in the 1960s. she moved to the US in 1975 after South Vietnam fall. Tran had wanted to be a writer since elementary school, but her poetry was not published until she reached the United States.
· Today, she frequently contributes poems and short stories to Vietnamese literary publications in the US and other countries. “War is a terrible thing,” says Tran, who had first-hand experience of the Vietnam War (1954 – 1975). According to Tran, “The Vietnam War is a shameful experience, for both Vietnamese and Americans.” Many people in both countries felt the terrible tragedy of the war. Losses in the war were heavy, more than two million Vietnamese and 57,000 Americans died.
Central Idea
In the poem ‘The Gift in Wartime’, Tran addresses an absent person. For example, as she says, “I offer you roses,” the person to whom she is speaking is not present and can neither hear, nor understand what she is saying. For her, war is a terrible thing and to be killed in the war is not the matter of martyrdom but of futility.
Summary of the poem
The poem entitled ‘The Gift in Wartime’ has been written by Tran Mong Tu (translated by Vann Phan) grieves the futility of war by employing the visual imagery of roses, clouds, and a corpse along with medals, silver stars, the yellow pips on the badge and eyes with no sight, lips with no smile, his arms without tenderness. She also uses such figurative language as irony, apostrophe, anaphora and metaphor to make her point. The speaker’s attitude towards war is negative. The poem written in free verse, has a sad tone.
In the first stanza, the speaker offers her beloved roses to be buried in his new grave and her wedding gown.to cover his tomb. In the second stanza, she says that the medals, silver stars and yellow pips on his badge are now useless. In the third stanza, the speaker seems little nostalgic as she says that she offers him her youth when they are in love, but she thinks her youth died after she heard the news of his dead. The fourth stanza presents what she gets in return; she is given the smell of blood from his war dress that smells of even his enemy’s blood. The fifth stanza presents the speaker’s darker side of thought where she offers him clouds and cold winters amid her springtime of her life. The sixth stanza presents her deeper sadness. While hoping for happiness, love, affection and lifelong accompaniment, he gives her lips with no smile, his arms without tenderness, his eyes with no sight and his motionless body. The last stanza presents her apology in an ironical manner and primarily her promise to meet him in their next life. For this, she will hold this shrapnel as a token so that they will recognize each other.
The poem expresses the futility of war. For the speaker, war is a terrible thing. The effect of war on the alive ones is very dreadful as the speaker mourns for the death of her beloved. She thinks her youth also died along with the death of her beloved. She expresses her sorrow to an absent person in such a way as if he were present and understands what she is saying. The person addressed as “you” is her beloved for whom she is grieving.
Understanding the text
Answer the following questions
a. Who is the speaker addressing and why can that person not hear or understand what she is saying?
The speaker is addressing her dead beloved/husband. The person cannot hear or understand what she is saying because he is killed in the war. He is an absent person but addressed as if he were present and can understand.
b. What can you infer about the speaker’s feelings for the person addressed as “you”?
The speaker’s feelings for the person addressed as “you” is very intimate, close, loving and affectionate. The very person is her beloved who is killed in the war. She is so grief-stricken that she expresses her sorrow as if he were talking to him. She also makes promise to be with him in their next life.
c. What is the speaker’s attitude toward war?
The speaker’s attitude toward war is negative. For him, to be killed in the war is futile of just a waste of life. Considering the sad tone of the poem, the speaker sees no glory in getting killed in the war. Instead, she says that war is a terrible thing.
d. In what ways do you think this person’s fate has affected the speaker?
The person fate has a terrible effect on the speaker. The speaker is grieving for the loss of this person. The person refers to her husband or beloved whom she offers roses and her wedding gown. She becomes nostalgic to the days when she used to offer him her youth, but now she thinks her youth is dead.
e. What does the speaker promise at the end of the poem? Why do you think the speaker does this?
At the end of the poem, the speaker promises to meet her beloved in their next life. She makes this promise because she is grief-stricken due to his demise in the war. Her desire to live and enjoy with him is incomplete, so she hopes to quench her thirst of pleasure to be with him even in their next life.
Reference to the context
a. What is the theme of the poem?
The theme of the poem is that war is a terrible thing. To be killed in the war is just waste of life. The speaker is mourning sadness and futility of life lost in the war. The speaker has to face the death of her beloved. She speaks directly to him as if he is present in front of her. This is deepest level of sadness and melancholia. The speaker reveals her sorrow by addressing him as her beloved who offers her his lips with no smile, arms without tenderness, eyes with no sight and motionless body.
The poem presents the idea that there is no glory in war. Instead, it is a shameful experience. To be killed in the war is not the matter of bravery, but waste of lives. The speaker, in the poem, mourns the futility of war. Lives lost in the war leave terrible effect on the alive ones.
b. What imagery from the poem made the greatest impression on you? Why?
The poet has used visual imagery such as roses, wedding gown, shrapnel (as token), medals, silver stars and so on. Imagery simply means description using any of the five senses: sense of sight, touch, smell, taste and sound.
The imagery of shrapnel made the greatest impression on me because it made me think seriously how deeply she was in love with him. A shrapnel refers to fragments scattered from exploding bombs, which might have killed him. With the use of this imagery, the speaker made us imagine them taking rebirth or hoping for second life similar to the mortal life in this materialistic world. The speaker takes the shrapnel as token, with which they will recognize each other in their next life. The promise she has made with this imagery is really impressive.
c. Which figurative language is used in the poem? Explain with examples.
Though there are various figurative languages that can be marked in the poem, apostrophe is the most impressive and conspicuous one. An apostrophe is a direct and explicit either to an absent person or to an abstract or nonhuman entity. Often the effect is of high formality or else of a sudden emotional impetus. In this poem, the speaker addresses an absent person as if he were present and can understand. She addresses him as ‘you’ in the poem.
Another obvious figurative language used in this poem is anaphora. An anaphora is the deliberate repetition of a word or phrase at the beginning of each one of a sequence of sentences, paragraphs, lines of verse or stanzas. The part of a line ‘You give me your” is repeated three times in the sixth stanza. This is a perfect example of anaphora.
The poet has also used imagery to express her idea of grieving for the loss of her beloved’s life. He has used visual imagery such as roses, corpse, medals, clouds, wedding gown, silver stars and so on.
d. What does the speaker “offer” in this poem? What does the person addressed as “you” give in return?
In this poem, the speaker offers her beloved her youth when he was alive and they were still in love. Later, she offers him roses to be buried in his new grave and her wedding gown.to cover his tomb.
The person addressed as “you” is her beloved who gives her the smell of blood in return. His war dress has terrible smell of blood of himself and even of his enemy. He gives her lips with no smile, arms without tenderness, eyes with no sight and his motionless body.
e. An apostrophe is a literary device in which a writer or speaker addresses an absent person or an abstract idea in such a way as if it were present and can understand. Discuss the poem in relation to apostrophe.
The poem is in the first-person narrative. The speaker has used an apostrophe as the main literary device. She is addressing an absent person as if he were present and understand her. She addressed him as ‘you’. The person addressed as ‘you’ is her beloved who is killed in the war. She is mourning sadness standing or sitting near the corpse of her beloved. It seems to be her one-way speech. She is grieving for the loss of his life, but she addresses him in such a way that he is still alive and listening to her words.
The speaker offers him roses and her wedding gown. She remembers the days when they were in love. After she is told the news of his death, she thinks that her youth that she offers him, is dead. She tells the absent person that he has given her his lips with no smiles, arms without tenderness, eyes with no sight and his motionless body. She also promises him to meet him in their next life. She informs him that she will be with the shrapnel as a token, so that they will recognize each other. All these things are told in such a way as if he were present and understands what she is saying.
Reference beyond the context
a. Write an essay on the effects of war.
War has had a profound effect on human society and the world at large. It has shaped and influenced the course of history, and has had far-reaching and long-lasting consequences for individuals and nations.
One of the most significant effects of war is the loss of life and human suffering it causes. Wars have resulted in the deaths of millions of people, both soldiers and civilians, and have left countless others wounded and traumatized. The psychological toll of war on soldiers and civilians alike can be devastating, and can have long-term effects on mental health and well-being.
Another major effect of war is the destruction of infrastructure and property. Wars often involve the bombing or shelling of cities and towns, which can result in the devastation of homes, schools, hospitals, and other important buildings and facilities. This destruction can have a long-term impact on a community's ability to function and provide for its citizens.
War also has economic consequences, both for the countries involved and for the global economy as a whole. The costs of war, including military spending, can be staggering and can have a significant impact on a country's budget and economy. In addition, the disruption of trade and commerce that often results from war can have a negative impact on global economic stability.
The social and cultural effects of war can also be significant. War can lead to the displacement of large numbers of people, as refugees flee conflict and seek safety in other countries. This can result in the loss of cultural traditions and the breakdown of social networks and support systems. In addition, the social and cultural fabric of a society can be severely strained by the divisions and tensions that often arise during and after a war.
Post war effect is even more dangerous. Many people become victim of trauma and melancholia. The mental effect of war is less observable but a great loss. Psychological and mental effect of war is resulted into robbery, theft, violence and causing fear or terror. Society becomes without law and order.
In conclusion, war has had a profound and far-reaching effect on human society and the world at large. It has caused loss of life, suffering, and destruction, and has had economic, social, and cultural consequences that have lasted for many years. While efforts to prevent and resolve conflicts are important, the impact of war on individuals and communities can be devastating and long-lasting.
