Name____________________________________________________Period___________Date______________
War Unit: Part I
The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner
Randall Jarrell
The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner
From my mother's sleep I fell into the State,
And I hunched in its belly till my wet fur froze.
Six miles from earth, loosed from its dream of life,
I woke to black flak and the nightmare fighters.
When I died they washed me out of the turret with a hose.
1. What is your reaction to the last line of this poem?
2. In reference to this poem, Randall Jarrell wrote that the gunner, who sat hunched up and revolved with the
turret, looked like a fetus in the womb. With this image in mind, try to interpret the first four lines of the poem.
3. What does the phrase “fell into the State” refer to?
4. What sleeping, dreaming and waking mean throughout the poem?
5. How would you describe the speaker’s attitude toward his death?
6. What does this poem say to you about war and combat?