Trauma Of War Exposed In Richard Weigl's Poem
However, Weigl is seized by his past and is forced to relive his traumatizing experience. The third stanza begins with a statement; “But still the branches are wire/And thunder is the pounding mortar”(17-18). In direct opposition to a previous line in the first stanza, that compared the branches to barbed wire using a simile, Weigl now states that they are wire with conviction. He is no longer attempting to suppress his horrific memories, but rather is beginning the process of fully integrating them within himself. The thunder thrusts him back into battle, as it reminds him of the sound of “mortar.” Weigle perceives mundane occurrences such as thunder or branches with the wounded perspective of someone who has experienced the trauma of war.
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The mysterious memory that Weigl has desperately attempted to suppress, ultimately overpowers him and appears to him when he “close[s] [his] eyes” (19).
Weigl shuts his eyes in a futile attempt to prevent himself from seeing the image, but the memory is so ingrained within him that he is not able to dispel the image from his mind, even when he intentionally shuts his eyes. The image that he recalls is of “girl/[r]unning from her village, napalm stuck to her dress like jelly” (20-22). The use of the word “girl” implies innocence and youth. However, the girl is not “running” for pleasure, but is rather fleeing her “village” in excruciating agony caused by the “napalm stuck to her dress like jelly.” The simile “napalm stuck to her dress like jelly” is cruelly ironic. Jelly is a sticky substance that should fill be the sweet filling in children’s sandwiches. In contrast, this jelly is a barbaric instrument of war, that brutally incinerates people alive. Weigl’s recollection becomes increasingly vivid as he recalls the girl’s “hands reaching for the no one/who waits in waves of heat before her”(22-24). Weigl is forced to relive watching a suffering child reach out in a desperate and fruitless attempt for salvation. The intrinsic horror of this memory is
evident. The girl is not an enemy combatant; she is a sinless soul, who has been senselessly destroyed by war, and at some level Weigl is responsible for her death. Though he may not have directly caused the pain he witnessed, Weigl was a member of the entity that inflicted the damage, as he was a soldier of the US Army.
The mysterious memory that Weigl has desperately attempted to suppress, ultimately overpowers him and appears to him when he “close[s] [his] eyes” (19).
Weigl shuts his eyes in a futile attempt to prevent himself from seeing the image, but the memory is so ingrained within him that he is not able to dispel the image from his mind, even when he intentionally shuts his eyes. The image that he recalls is of “girl/[r]unning from her village, napalm stuck to her dress like jelly” (20-22). The use of the word “girl” implies innocence and youth. However, the girl is not “running” for pleasure, but is rather fleeing her “village” in excruciating agony caused by the “napalm stuck to her dress like jelly.” The simile “napalm stuck to her dress like jelly” is cruelly ironic. Jelly is a sticky substance that should fill be the sweet filling in children’s sandwiches. In contrast, this jelly is a barbaric instrument of war, that brutally incinerates people alive. Weigl’s recollection becomes increasingly vivid as he recalls the girl’s “hands reaching for the no one/who waits in waves of heat before her”(22-24). Weigl is forced to relive watching a suffering child reach out in a desperate and fruitless attempt for salvation. The intrinsic horror of this memory is
evident. The girl is not an enemy combatant; she is a sinless soul, who has been senselessly destroyed by war, and at some level Weigl is responsible for her death. Though he may not have directly caused the pain he witnessed, Weigl was a member of the entity that inflicted the damage, as he was a soldier of the US Army.