The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner by Randall Jarell and Fire and Ice by Robert Frost

Literature is known as published written work that consists of many literary elements. Literary elements are the writer’s artistic techniques to set up or convey a specific message to us readers. Symbolism is a double-edged sword to most writers, because it adds double meanings to work. The author’s shows symbolic meanings and our mind sees that imagery in our brain and we automatically reference it or compare it to something. What a symbol represents in a story is bound to the context that is given in. In “The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner” by Randall Jarrell it signifies the literary element. As well as In Robert Frosts “Fire and Ice” the symbolism is clear in the name as much as in the story.

In “The Death of the Ball Turret Gunner” by Randall Jarrell it signifies the use of Symbolism in a work of poetry. The poem was written in 1945 which was the time when world war two started. The “ball turret gunner” is a machine gunner positioned upside-down in glass sphere on the outside of a bomber. From the title we can already imply that this person died already possibly be a speech after his known death was imminent. The story starts out with words “From my mother's sleep I fell into the State”. He woke from his mother’s sleep which sleep is known as a time of rest normally to us, and he fell into the state. It wasn’t even his own sleep it’s his mother’s sleep which makes it even more dramatic. Like as if he was taken into the middle of the night from under her wing of her grasp and left descending into the worlds hands of fate (the military). Falling is a Symbolic word because falling is never really a happy reason unless it’s referring to love. Though this dead gunner fell while his mother was sleeping which can mean a separation...

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...ire, some say in ice”. One thing is we don’t know when the world will end but it will be by one or the other scientists say. The world truly doesn’t know how long it will end it is no time soon. The author is talking about the end of the world so freely without emotion, like it’s inevitable. The symbolic fire and ice meaning varies between different types of people whom remind the author of these elements. The fire we know and think about is a bringer of Light and heat but as well as pain and burning. Ice is ignorance and cold hate sort of feel to it. Fire and Ice have such deep meanings because it’s like the type of people you will encounter every day in life. The poem makes you relive all the times the world was going to allegedly end. What a symbol Fire and Ice is being used to represent is the end of times. This symbolic poem was like a vague prediction of sort.