“I was Only 19” by Redgum conveys their ideas about the violent and disturbing nature of war, the long-lasting psychological effects of war on the soldiers and the misleading nature of the ANZAC legend through the use of language techniques such as repetition, hyperbole, visual comparisons, rhetorical questions, metaphor and code, etc.
Firstly, Redgum uses language techniques to effectively convey their ideas on the violent nature of war. The use of visual comparisons such as “I can still see Frankie, drinking tinnies in the Grand Hotel” followed by “And I can still hear Frankie, lying screaming in the jungle” paints a picture of the horrors of the supposed “great” war