Oppression and Conflict of Holocaust Represented in the Poem, Shooting Star by Carol Ann Duffy

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Recommended: The Holocaust causes and consequences

The poem "shooting stars" by Carol Ann. Duffy is characterized by a constant use of imagery that helps the reader understand the oppression and conflict represented in the Holocaust. The poem is from the point of view of a woman that died and was a victims of the Nazis, and makes the public relive and comprehend the time of suffering of the Jewish by Hitler in order to accomplish his final solution, in order to make the readers feel sorry for them.
The first stanza opens up by saying "after I no longer speak", which suggest that the speaker of the poem passed away. The use of "I" gives the reader a personal perspective from speaker, that helps make the poem more personal. The initial conflict is presented by dark imagery as "they break [their] fingers", which is juxtaposed to saving the speaker's "wedding ring", a symbol of love. A list of names follows, which is a motif established through the poem that makes the reader realize the quantity of lives lost during the war. An interesting choice is the one of the author to use first names such as "Rebecca Rachel Ruth Aaron Emmanuel David", instead of simply using the numbers of victim, which could have a greater impact, even though by using names the public can understand that the speaker lost people that were known to her and that it's a bigger lost for her. The use of "stars" serves to symbolize the Jewish Star of David that was printed on their uniforms, from when they were in concentrated camps. This is also represented to the irony of the title "Shooting Stars", that has a dual-meaning because it represents the Jews as "stars" that were shot and oppressed by the Nazis, and it also has a metaphorical meaning, in fact the imagery of shooting stars can represent the short lives ...

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...n theme of this poem. The list of names, such as "Sara and Ezra" also continues and it creates a motif throughout the poem.
In the sixth stanza, the speaker appeals to "sister", as the female portion of her public to "consider [her]" so that they won't forget the terrifying truth of the Holocaust. The last sentences and the formal and detached diction in "turn thee unto me with mercy", provide evidence for the miserable and sad tone of the poem, as the speaker feel "desolate and lost".
To conclude, the poem by Carol Duffy's goal is to remember the tragically events of the Holocaust through the dramatic monologue of a woman that was a prisoner in a concentrate camp during the Holocaust. The author uses obscene imagery and other devices to portray the abuses that the soldiers caused to their victim, so that the public will evolve feelings of hate towards them.

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