DIAMETER OF THE BOMB (PHILIPPINE SETTING)
The poem, “Diameter of the Bomb”, written by Yehuda Amichai, illustrates how the intuition of war and a single act of violence resounds through history, encompassing the whole world and God with it.
The poem initiates as the poet enumerates the characteristics of the bomb. Details about the size of the bomb, its effective radius, the number of casualties, then slowly the details become people, the statistics turn human, and we are shown the real human cost of terrorism. The bomb is epitomized as grasping partial capacity for damage, and consequently ineffective, as the victims that result are practically irrelevant when compared to the total fatalities in a war.
But the circle does not stop there. The poem flow further, going past God and Heaven to a boundless barrenness. There is no God, or none that we can rely, there is only endless circle suffering that now includes us all. Through the symbolism of the circle and the use of lines such as “at a distance of more than a hundred kilometers”, the symbol of the broad impact of the bomb is revealed. The descriptions of the bomb’s enormity create basic, yet effective imagery of a circle that continues to expand, eventually consuming the entire world and beyond to man’s reach. By implying that the consequence of war is so great and destructive, to the extent of considering if war is really worth such pain and loss.
It has often been said that terrorism is a perennial and ceaseless struggle. A range of real and perceived injustice that spans virtually every facet of human activity motivates terrorism. The Philippine primer defines terrorism, “as the premeditated use or threatened use of violence or means of destruction perpetrated against innocent civilians or non-combatants, or against civilian and government properties, usually intended to influence an audience.” The war on terrorism has changed the lives of the Filipinos and strained the capacities of the government.
Over the years, the Philippines has
The poem initiates as the poet enumerates the characteristics of the bomb. Details about the size of the bomb, its effective radius, the number of casualties, then slowly the details become people, the statistics turn human, and we are shown the real human cost of terrorism. The bomb is epitomized as grasping partial capacity for damage, and consequently ineffective, as the victims that result are practically irrelevant when compared to the total fatalities in a war.
But the circle does not stop there. The poem flow further, going past God and Heaven to a boundless barrenness. There is no God, or none that we can rely, there is only endless circle suffering that now includes us all. Through the symbolism of the circle and the use of lines such as “at a distance of more than a hundred kilometers”, the symbol of the broad impact of the bomb is revealed. The descriptions of the bomb’s enormity create basic, yet effective imagery of a circle that continues to expand, eventually consuming the entire world and beyond to man’s reach. By implying that the consequence of war is so great and destructive, to the extent of considering if war is really worth such pain and loss.
It has often been said that terrorism is a perennial and ceaseless struggle. A range of real and perceived injustice that spans virtually every facet of human activity motivates terrorism. The Philippine primer defines terrorism, “as the premeditated use or threatened use of violence or means of destruction perpetrated against innocent civilians or non-combatants, or against civilian and government properties, usually intended to influence an audience.” The war on terrorism has changed the lives of the Filipinos and strained the capacities of the government.
Over the years, the Philippines has