Naming Of Parts By Henry Reed Analysis

This Means War War is a time when men are drafted to fight for their country. Henry Reed believes that the soldiers are wasting their lives fighting in the war, instead of being home with their loved ones. Henry Reed’s poem, “Naming of Parts,” demonstrates his negative opinion of war, how there are two different speakers, and that there are different main ideas of the parts. First, Reed writes this poem in order to assert his beliefs about war. He believes that war represents the death of young souls and spring represents the new life of nature. Reed shows the reader how a young soldier’s mind wonders, while his instructor is trying to teach him about the rifle. As the instructor educates the men about the rifle, the young soldier notices the Japonica flower blooming.
In the first stanza, the instructor starts to break down the multiple parts of the rifle. The instructor teaches about the rifle because the soldiers need to be educated about the weapons that they use. As the instructor babbles about the rifles, the young soldier ponders on a different type of part. This type of part is an innuendo for sexual behavior. It is hard for the soldier to concentrate because he can only think about the physical touch of a woman. Every word that the instructor states does not register through the soldiers mind. In the poem “Naming of Parts,” Henry Reed exemplifies his negative views of war, the perspective of the instructor and the soldier, and the different main ideas of the parts. Reed implies that war is a waste of any man’s time. The instructor does not have the soldier’s attention. As the instructor is speaking, the soldier seems to be unfocused on the importance of the different parts of the rifle. His focus is more on the sexual desire of a woman opposed to the physical appearance of the rifle. The soldier portrays as a lover rather than being a